South Korea cruised past Croatia in its first knockout match of the men's table tennis team event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, with the top-ranked China up next in the quarterfinals.
Jang Woo-jin, Cho Dae-seong and Lim Jong-hoon carried South Korea past Croatia 3-0 after one doubles match and two singles matches in the round of 16 at South Paris Arena in the French capital.
In the opening doubles, Jang and Cho dispatched Filip Zeljko and Andrej Gacina 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-6) without breaking a sweat.
Lim Jong-hoon wasted little time giving South Korea a 2-0 lead, as he defeated Tomislav Pucar in the first singles match 3-0 (11-2, 11-7, 11-9).
Back out for the second singles match, Jang beat Gacina 3-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4), as South Korea finished off the match at 3-0.
South Korea is sixth in the International Table Tennis Federation team rankings, while Croatia is 11th. Croatia was still regarded as a tricky opponent, because Croatian players had upset South Koreans at recent competitions.
Jang had lost to Gacina at a World Table Tennis Star Contender event in June but got his revenge Tuesday.
Jang said the key to his victory was to catch Gacina off guard and let him attack first, because he felt confident in his defense.
"Back then, I went after him hard. Today, I decided to let him go on the offensive first. It worked out pretty well," Jang said. "I think I got under his skin a bit. I received his shots easily, and it was a more comfortable win than I'd expected."
In the quarterfinals scheduled for Wednesday, South Korea will face the mighty China, which features world No. 1 Wang Chuqin, world No. 2 Fan Zhendong and world No. 6 Ma Long. They knocked off India 3-0 in their round of 16 on Tuesday.
Jang is the top-ranked South Korean player at No. 13.
If South Korea somehow gets past China, the possible semifinal opponent, Brazil or France, could present an easier test.
"If we can all do what we're capable of doing and just stay relaxed, we should be in a good spot," Jang said.
The men's team event made its Olympic debut in 2008, and China has won every gold medal so far. Ma played on the past three gold medal-winning teams.
South Korea won bronze in 2008 and silver in 2012. (Yonhap)
