Where He Fits

In singles he is not the most dazzling name on the entry list — but put a partner next to him and his results immediately become world-class.

Playing Style

  • Left-handed attacking shakehand whose heavy forehand topspin is his main scoring weapon
  • Exceptional doubles and mixed doubles positioning, with sharp judgment on coverage and handoffs
  • Highly targeted serve and receive patterns designed to create openings for his partner

Career and Key Moments

He showed promise young but broke through late — beating Xu Xin 4–1 at the 2018 China Open was the first time Chinese fans really noticed him. In 2022 he was men’s singles runner-up at the Asian Cup. At the 2024 Paris Olympics he and Shin Yu-bin won the mixed doubles bronze, beating the Hong Kong pair, giving Korea its first Olympic table tennis medal in 12 years — and earning him a military service exemption. Since then his men’s doubles partnership with Ahn Jae-hyun has stayed near the top of the rankings, and his mixed doubles has remained at the elite level.

What He Left Behind

He is one of the most successful examples of the “doubles specialist” path in the new cycle. Once mixed doubles became an official Olympic event, players of this type were rediscovered as genuinely valuable.

Remember this: train your strength until opponents simply cannot go around it, and the road opens by itself.