Olympic Games | 30 Jul 2024

Olympic Mixed Doubles Gold Medal Showdown: China's Top Seed vs PRK's Underdogs

The Paris 2024 Olympics Mixed Doubles gold medal match is set, featuring a clash between China's World No.1 pair and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's surprise duo.

The Mixed Doubles gold medal match is scheduled for 14:30.

KIM Kum Yong and RI Jong Sik of PRK secured their spot in the gold medal match with a hard-fought victory. They edged out Hong Kong, China's WONG Chun Ting and DOO Hoi Kem 4-3 (11-3, 10-12, 3-11, 11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6) in a tense semifinal. The PRK duo's path to Paris began with a tight 4-3 win in the World Mixed Doubles Olympic Qualification Event final on 11 April 2024 -- their first international outing as a team.

Their Paris 2024 campaign kicked off with a major upset, taking down 2nd seed Tomokazu HARIMOTO and Hina HAYATA of Japan in the opening round. Now, they've secured PRK's fifth Olympic table tennis medal and the first for a male PRK athlete.

China's WANG Chuqin and SUN Yingsha advanced to the final by defeating Korea Republic's 3rd seed LIM Jonghoon and SHIN Yubin 4-2 (6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-9). The Chinese pair enter as favourites with two ITTF World Championship crowns and four WTT Grand Smash titles to their name. They aim to claim the only gold that eluded China in Tokyo 2020. 

Korea Republic and Hong Kong, China will compete for bronze at 13:30, rounding out Mixed Doubles' second Olympic appearance.