Korea Republic has officially done enough to seal its place in Stage 3 at ITTF Mixed Team World Cup Chengdu 2024 presented by CHINA TELECOM, prevailing 8-5 over Japan on Saturday afternoon.

Responding to an early Mixed Doubles setback, Korea Republic would draw level with Japan at 3-3 thanks to an exemplary performance from Shin Yubin who beat Asuka Sasao in a tense showdown (11-8, 11-8, 6-11).

Jang Woojin would quickly follow suit with a win of his own, taking down Yuta Tanaka (11-3, 9-11, 11-7), and with Korea Republic picking up three games across the Mens Doubles and Womens Doubles contests, qualification to Stage 3 was theirs.

I participated in two matches today and felt quite comfortable with my performance, thanks to the support of my brothers and sisters behind me and the many spectators cheering me on. I hope that everyone will cheer me on in the following matches as well. Shin Yubin

The race to join China and Korea Republic in Stage 3 is going right down to the wire, with Romania amongst the teams still in contention.

Falling Second Stage 3 Ticket Goes To Korea Republicbehind to Germany in the Mixed Doubles, it was Adina Diaconu who put Romania on track with a 3-0 win over Yuan Wan (12-10, 11-3, 11-3), but the Romanian team encountered another setback in the following singles as Kay Stumper overcame Eduard Ionescu (11-5, 11-3, 6-11).

With the overall match score sitting at 5-4, the pair of Andreea Dragoman and Bernadette Szocs successfully came through the Womens Doubles against Yuan Wan and Franziska Schreiner (11-8, 11-13, 11-6). Darius Movileanu and Eduard Ionescu would then see the task through to completion, producing a winning effort against Kay Stumper and Fanbo Meng (12-10) to settle the match.

I played my singles for Romania with confidence. I was trying to play to see how she was playing and I was fighting for every point, because I knew that every game was important. Game by game I was improving, and I started to play better and better. Adina Diaconu

Elsewhere, Frances outside hopes of a Stage 3 spot were crushed by China as the 2023 champion outclassed the European side 8-0, while Hong Kong, China stays in contention with an 8-3 victory over USA.