The 1991
World Table Tennis Championships
The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include m ...
were held in
Chiba from April 24 to May 6, 1991.
North Korea and South Korea fielded a unified team under the name Korea (コリア ''Koria''), the first of all
Unified Korean sporting teams
A unified team of North and South Korea has played at certain sports competitions under the name Korea.
History
Since the conclusion of the Korean War, North and South Korea have existed as separate countries, with both claiming to be the sol ...
. The women's Korean team captured the gold medal by topping China, winners of eight consecutive titles since 1975, 3–2 in the final.
Results
Team
Individual
Unified team of Korea
Prior to the competition,
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
discussed the possibility of the first unified
football and table tennis teams since
Korea's division. In February 1991, they agreed to the creation of the unified table tennis team to compete at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.
[사상 최초 남북 단일팀의 통일의 기적 <코리아>](_blank)
the official blog of the Ministry of Unification
The Ministry of Unification is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung-hee. It gained its ...
, South Korea According to
Chang Ung,
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
member from North Korea, the decision took 22 rounds of talks between the Koreas and five months.
The team used "Korea" (
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...
: ,
McCune–Reischauer: ''K'oria'',
Revised Romanization
Revised Romanization of Korean () is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. It was developed by the National Academy of the Korean Language from 1995 and was released to the public on 7 July 2000 by South Korea's Min ...
: ''Koria'',
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
: ''Koria'') as the
country name avoiding ''Hanguk'' () or ''Chosŏn'' (). It also used the
Korean Unification Flag as the
national flag and
Arirang
"Arirang" (; ) is a Korean folk song. There are about 3,600 variations of 60 different versions of the song, all of which include a refrain similar to "''Arirang, arirang, arariyo'' ()". It is estimated the song is more than 600 years old. ...
as the
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
. Upon defeating the supposedly "unbeatable" Chinese team, the women's team caused a big sensation in Korea.
A
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
n movie ''
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
'' () ("As one") was released on May 3, 2012, and describes the story of the women's team.
Hyun Jung-Hwa
Hyun Jung-hwa (; born October 6, 1969 in Busan, South Korea) is a retired table tennis player from South Korea who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics, and in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Career
National South Korean table tennis player Hyun Jun ...
was portrayed by
Ha Ji-won
Jeon Hae-rim (; born 28 June 1978), better known by her stage name Ha Ji-won () is a South Korean actress. She is best known for the historical dramas '' Damo'' (2003), '' Hwang Jini'' (2006), and '' Empress Ki'' (2013), as well as the melodra ...
and
Li Bun-Hui
Li Bun-hui (; born December 29, 1968) is a former table tennis player from North Korea who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Table tennis career
She won eight World Table Tennis Championship medals. She won a bronze med ...
by
Bae Doona.
코리아 - Daum 영화
(from Daum's movie portal)
References
External links
ITTF Museum
{{World Table Tennis Championships
World Table Tennis Championships
World Table Tennis Championships
The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include m ...
World Table Tennis Championships
The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include m ...
Table tennis competitions in Japan
Table
Table may refer to:
* Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs
* Table (landform), a flat area of land
* Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns
* Table (database), how the table data ...