(LEAD) Unified Korean ping pong team defeats S. Koreans to reach final at major event

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SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Yonhap) -- The unified Korean mixed doubles table tennis team of Jang Woo-jin (South) and Cha Hyo-sim (North) defeated a South Korean tandem to reach the final at a major tournament near Seoul on Friday.

Jang and Cha rallied past Lim Jong-hoon and Yang Ha-eun of South Korea 3-2 (10-12, 11-4, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8) in the semifinals of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals at Namdong Gymnasium in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of the capital.

Jang and Cha will take on Doo Hoi Kem and Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong in Saturday's final.

This is the third tournament together for the South-North duo. They won the Korea Open mixed doubles title in July, and reached the semifinals in the Austria Open last month.

Lim and Yang took the first game, but Jang and Cha claimed the next two games. Lim and Yang forced the fifth game with an 11-5 win in the fourth game.

Jang took over in the deciding game with a series of drives, sending his team to the final at the season-ending tournament.

Jang said afterward that his chemistry with Cha is getting better with each passing match.

"I tend to get carried away during matches, and Hyo-sim always has my back and keeps me in check," Jang said. "She has nerves of steel."

In the quarterfinals on Thursday, Jang and Cha eliminated the 2017 world champions from Japan, Maharu Yoshimura and Kasumi Ishikawa. Cha said then she was confident against that team.

But she acknowledged going up against South Koreans was different.

"I was more nervous today than yesterday, and I didn't get a good night's sleep," Cha said.

Jang added he tried extra hard to keep his composure and he didn't want to take his foot off the pedal just because the opponents were his compatriots.

Looking ahead to the final, Cha said, "I am only thinking about trying to win that match."

This competition is open to the top 16 players in the men's and women's singles, and the top eight teams in the men's, women's and mixed doubles, based on their performances in the 12 ITTF World Tour events.

In other events, Jang and Lim teamed up to reach the men's doubles final. They knocked off another South Korean team, Jeoung Young-sik and Lee Sang-su, 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 15-13, 11-9) in the semifinals earlier Friday.

Jang and Lim will take on Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong in Sunday's gold medal contest.

In the women's doubles, Jeon Ji-hee and Yang Ha-eun lost in the semifinals to Hina Hayata and Mima Ito of Japan on Friday.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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