North- and South Korea to combine teams in Halmstad!

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The main draw happened to be in favor of the ITTF for another Ping-Pong Diplomacy - perfect chance for free publicity. I would've green-lit it if I were in power. Though Netherlands and Thailand, both 4th in group, might not like it.
 
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News from roughly 21 hours ago.

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3047615
According to the KTTA, the performance improvement committee, headed by KTTA Vice President Lee You-sung, will go over measures that will “minimize the damage to South Korean athletes” should there be a unified squad.

One way to do so would be to expand the entries for the proposed Korean team.

...

If the unified Korean team is allowed to send extra athletes, then South Korean players won’t have to cede their spots to North Koreans.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2018/05/03/0200000000AEN20180503009751315.html
The two have agreed not to cut any of the current five South Korean and four North Korean players for the semifinals. The South Korean players are: Jeon Ji-hee, Kim Ji-ho, Suh Hyo-won, Yang Ha-eun and Yoo Eun-chong. The North Koreans are: Cha Hyo-sim, Choe Hyon-hwa, Kim Nam-hae and Kim Song-i.

The joint squad will be called Korea. Should the new team reach the podium, all nine players will receive a medal, and both South Korean and North Korean national flags will be raised in the medal ceremony. The athletes will each don their respective national uniforms, since their teams were brought together during the tournament and hadn't prepared any joint gear.

...

The KTTA said ITTF President Thomas Weikert helped arrange the joint team at the worlds. The KTTA has also proposed a unified Korean team at this year's Asian Games in Indonesia, pending the ITTF's approval. The KTTA said it would like to see both Koreas retain their allotted roster spots -- two players each in the men's and women's singles, two teams each in the mixed doubles and five players in the team event -- even if they combine their teams.
 
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"A Brilliant Move for Peace, A Foolish Move for Competition. Surprised by Sudden Unified Team"

That's the title of one entry on Japanese magazine Table Tennis Kingdom.

Japan is not warm about the decision.
 
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For the Korea lineup, I think Suh Hyowon, Yang Haeun and Kim Song I will be benched. They wouldn't stand much chance against Japan now. Jeon Jihee would be a suitable choice.
 
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A Brilliant Move for Peace, A Foolish Move for Competition
Exactly my thoughts. No matter how great this news is, you can't just change the competition during a World Team Event. They still could have celebrated the unification and spread the news regarding FUTURE events. They still had to play a last time against each other due to the draw. One team could have surrendered or they could have played show matches or even real matches for the last time. But changing the competition just because their countries are about to make plans about a unification... it is not like they did unify already.

As much as I like the news I don't agree with what has happened at WTTTC.
 
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Exactly my thoughts. No matter how great this news is, you can't just change the competition during a World Team Event. They still could have celebrated the unification and spread the news regarding FUTURE events. They still had to play a last time against each other due to the draw. One team could have surrendered or they could have played show matches or even real matches for the last time. But changing the competition just because their countries are about to make plans about a unification... it is not like they did unify already.

As much as I like the news I don't agree with what has happened at WTTTC.

My compromise is that Korea should allow their opponents to pick the team with at least one from each part of Korea.
 
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I am happy that every one agrees this is a good move for peace and bad move for competition

so will this open up against Germany and England to team together against China in the future
or South Korea and Japan to team together?

if this was unified before the tournament, then that is fine
but now 2 teams both progress to the next round is unfair in many ways.
surely the unified team can only have 5 players, not 10 to choose from...

ITTF has made a big mistake with this move.
They are a table tennis organization and best interest of table tennis must come first.
How can they make 2 countries interest over 70 other countries?
teaming up would strengthen you and for other countries not to team up is unfair...
ie formal soviet can have all the numbers 1 team up to be a very strong unified team too.

again, if unity was before the tournament - then this would allow another country to fill up the 72 team roster
and unified korea would only have 5 players
but half way in the competition,,,ittf should discourage it.
they should compete with each other, and who ever wins should share with the other korea (whether it is medal or prize money) or the reward for winning....

or maybe U korea A vs U korea B and then the winner to progress (not both teams progress)
 
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Feels political more than diplomatic. They need to train together and repeat the formula of success as they did in the first unified team. Otherwise, the biggest opponents to this team might be each other. During previous Olympics, when they marched together, two athletes held the flag and they were ordered by their respective governments to try and hold the higher position on it.

Having said that, a unified Korean team would be loaded with talent (except maybe the men's). I sometimes wonder what Korea would have looked like if it wasn't divided by communist forces.
 
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Yeah, I've made emotional comment before, because it is always nice to see people or countries, for that matter, overcomming what separates them ...
But the more I think about it and read your comments, the more I see how risky it was on the ITTF's part. Such special events should really leave no room for any controversy. If it was a final match for gold - briliant (!) but 1/8 ... I can see why Japan feels not too warm about it. I mean I'm (and Japan must be too) really happy for the Koreans, but Tom is right, the fairness of the competition suffered a little. There might have been a better way.
 
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I am serious about HK and CNT women team join together to proceed to the final. Hong Kong is part of China, no controversy. The two teams know each other pretty well, train together and the head coach of HK is Liu Guodong, LGL's elder brother. I see NO points that ITTF don't let these two teams unify.
 
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A little correction here. Korea was not divided by communist forces, but occupied by the Soviet and US after WWII. If the Soviet Union and US didn't interfere, Korea would never have split into two countries.
 
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I am serious about HK and CNT women team join together to proceed to the final. Hong Kong is part of China, no controversy. The two teams know each other pretty well, train together and the head coach of HK is Liu Guodong, LGL's elder brother. I see NO points that ITTF don't let these two teams unify.

Nah, it's a different situation. The Basic Law grants Hong Kong and Macau the right to participate in international sport competitions under the official titles "Hong Kong, China" and "Macau, China" after the handover, respectively. Think of them as England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, all representing the UK in Soccer and Rugby.

The more accurate analogy would be China and Chinese Taipei.
 
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I mean if ITTF allows North Korea and South Korea teams to unify and proceed (these are two separate nations), why Hongkong and China cannot unify and proceed (these are two separate associations of one nation).
The chance for Hongkong to beat China then win the final is 0. If Hongkong asks to unify and skip the semifinal, they will have 99.9999999999% chance to get gold at the end. What a deal.

Nah, it's a different situation. The Basic Law grants Hong Kong and Macau the right to participate in international sport competitions under the official titles "Hong Kong, China" and "Macau, China" after the handover, respectively. Think of them as England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, all representing the UK in Soccer and Rugby.

The more accurate analogy would be China and Chinese Taipei.
 
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Zeio,

Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Macau is all on the same position. or rather Chinese Taipei is more independent from China rule than Hong Kong is - anyways, you get my point.

So China + all "chinese/china" form 1 team
All commonwealth form 1 team
All European Union form 1 team
All former Soviet form 1 team
Americas form 1 team
 
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Doing so would undermine the "one country, two systems" promise. That promise is paramount in recovering(liberating in Mao's term) Taiwan from Beijing's perspective.

"Unified" is not the best word here. "Returned" is the official term used by UK and China. Hong Kong was never recognized as a country during its British colonial era, which is why it's totally different from North/South Korea, both of which are recognized as countries.

As I just wrote, multiple associations from one nation is a common occurence in other sports. Puerto Rico is a US territory, yet the US and Puerto Rico field thier own teams.

It wouldn't matter if Hong Kong could beat China or not, representing the region is all that matters, an exercise of a right granted by the law.
 
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I mean if ITTF allows North Korea and South Korea teams to unify and proceed (these are two separate nations), why Hongkong and China cannot unify and proceed (these are two separate associations of one nation).
The chance for Hongkong to beat China then win the final is 0. If Hongkong asks to unify and skip the semifinal, they will have 99.9999999999% chance to get gold at the end. What a deal.

And for China, they have a "walk over" and players can rest and be stronger the next match

Look at Chinese Taipei Chen Szu Yu - getting insured playing against a North Korean chopper....
If you can skip a game vs choppers, its good for the next match
 
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