"Song Yi, how are you?"... Women's table tennis player Seo Hyo-won on 'North-South unified team'

Seo Hyo-won (36-Korea Horse Society), the "eldest sister" of the South Korean women's table tennis team at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, recalled North Korea's Kim Song-yi (29), who was part of the "

The South Korean women's team started the tournament on a high note with a 3-0 victory over Pakistan in the first match of Group D of the women's team competition at the Archer Canal Sports Park Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, on Feb. 22.

The women's team's primary goal is to reach the final for the first time in 33 years since the 1990 Beijing Games, where they won a silver medal.

They should have a relatively easy time reaching the quarterfinals if they top their group.

But North Korea is a factor.

The North Korean women's national team, which is returning to the international scene after a four-year absence, has a lineup full of young players with unfamiliar names.

With little knowledge of their skill level, the South Korean coaching staff is struggling to get to grips with the North Korean team.

"I don't recognize many players (on the current North Korean team)," said Seo Hyo-won, who we met in the mix zone after the Pakistan match.

"I only remember Pon Song-kyong. I remember when North Korea participated in the 2018 Korea Open, he was a young player, a candidate," he said.

"Kim Song-i, I don't know if she's doing well," he reminisced.

Kim Song Yi was North Korea's women's table tennis "ace" in the 2010s.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won a bronze medal, defeating Japanese star Ai Fukuhara, and became a North Korean "sports hero.

Kim Song-i and Seo Hyo-won struck up a friendship at the World Championships in Halmstad in May 2018, when North and South Korea were united as a team for the first time.

The friendship continued into the Korea Open in July of that year. Both defensive players, they teamed up to compete in doubles. Unfortunately, they were eliminated in the round of 16, but their performance showed promise.

However, the subsequent deterioration of relations between North and South Korea prevented them from forming a single table tennis team. In the end, the doubles team was a "one-off.

"Actually, I was so busy with my life that I forgot about Song Yi," said Seo Hyo-won.

It wasn't until she saw the familiar name of Kim Song-i on the North Korean roster for the tournament that she remembered their time together five years ago.

"Songi told me that her knee was hurting. I remember sharing that (the pain of injury)," Seo said, adding, "I wonder how Songi is doing now."

The North Korean women's team, who have gone from "comrades" to "enemies," will take on Chinese Taipei at 5 p.m. today in their first Group C match.

Assuming South Korea tops Group D, a North-South showdown could happen as early as the quarterfinals, depending on the tournament's draw. 파워볼사이트