Shin Yu-bin

Shin Yu-bin (Korean: 신유빈; born 5 July 2004) is a South Korean table tennis player.^[2]

Her father, a former table tennis player, operated a table tennis club, and she naturally started playing the sport around the age of four or five. She showed early promise and was regarded as a table tennis prodigy during her elementary school years, joining the national reserve team. In 2019, at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 16 days, she became the youngest player ever selected for the South Korean national team. Since then, she has established herself as one of the leading figures in South Korean table tennis in the 2020s.

She competed in the 2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in the mixed doubles event with Cho Dae-seong. They were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen, 0–3.^[4] She also participated in the 2019 Asian Table Tennis Championships in both the women's singles and the mixed doubles, winning against the much higher ranked Cheng I-ching in the round of 32, 3–2, but lost to Feng Tianwei in the round of 16, 0–3 in the women's singles. In the mixed doubles, she competed with Cho Dae-seong. They were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha, 1–3.^[5][6] Also in 2019, she won the mixed doubles with Cho Dae-seong in the Czech Open, becoming the youngest person to win a mixed doubles title in the ITTF World Tour at 15 years, 50 days. They won against Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito in the finals, 3–2.^[7][8]

Shin was named to the South Korean Olympic team on 4 February 2021.^[9] She was 17 at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, making her the youngest ever Korean Olympic table tennis player, breaking a record previously held by Ryu Seung-min.^[10]

In March 2021, Shin played in WTT Doha. She lost to eventual semi-finalist Miyuu Kihara in the round of 32 in the first WTT Contender event, but she beat Miyuu Kihara in their second match-up in the round of 64 of the WTT Star Contender. Shin then upset Margaryta Pesotska in the round of 32.^[11] Shin also upset Miu Hirano in the round of 16 in an aggressive and dominant win.^[12]

During the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships held in Houston, United States, Shin Yu-bin sustained a right wrist injury. She competed in the women's doubles event but was forced to withdraw from the women's singles event before her first match due to worsening pain. Upon returning to South Korea, medical examinations revealed tendon damage in her wrist, requiring surgery and a long rehabilitation period. As a result, she missed several months of competition before making a comeback in 2022.

Shin was selected for the South Korean national Asian Games team in the table tennis event at the 2022 Asian Games, which runs from September 22 to October 2, 2023. On September 22, 2023, she won the first and second rounds of the preliminary round with Seo Hyo-won and Jeon Ji-hee in the women's team preliminary match. On the 24th, the team won the quarterfinals 3–1 against Vietnam. They met Japan in the semifinals and lost 1:3 to end the group match.

Shin Yu-bin also participated in mixed doubles with Im Jong-hoon. He lost to China in the semifinals and won the bronze medal.

Shin and Jeon Ji-hee competed in women's doubles and advanced to the semifinals by winning over Taiwan. The opponent team was Japan, which beat China, the favorite. She lost the first set, but won 4:1 by scoring a down point. The final was the inter-Korean match. She also won the gold medal in the women's table tennis doubles at the Asian Games for the first time in 21 years.^[13]

Shin Yu-bin competed in the Paris Olympics, reaching the bronze medal match in all three events she participated in. Shin first won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event with Lim Jong-hoon,^[14] then lost to Hina Hayata in the women's singles.^[15] Finally, in the women's team event, she teamed up with Jeon Ji-hee and Lee Eun-hye to defeat the German team and secure her second bronze medal.^[16]

• Shin Yu-bin at World Table Tennis
• Shin Yu-bin at Olympics.com
• Shin Yu-bin at Olympedia