Ryu Seung-min (Korean유승민; Korean pronunciation: [ju.sɯŋ.min]; born August 5, 1982) is a South Korean table tennis player who won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the men's singles competition.[1][3] His opponent was Wang Hao, a top-seeded player from the Chinese national team. Along the way, he defeated 1992 Olympic champion Jan-Ove Waldner with 4–1. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics he was part of the South Korean team that won the bronze and silver medals respectively.[4][5] Ryu is ranked twenty-fifth in the world as of July 2013.[2] In 2016, Ryu became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he was a member and Chair of the Athletes' Commission of the South Korean National Olympic Committee from 2016 to 2019.[6] Since 2018, he counts among the ITTF Foundation Ambassadors, promoting sport for development and peace.[7]

Ryu Seung-min
Personal information
Nationality South Korea
Born (1982-08-05) 5 August 1982 (age 42)[1]
Seoul, South Korea
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Table tennis career
Playing styleRight-handed, Japanese Penhold
Highest ranking2 (September 2004)[2]
Medal record
Men's table tennis
Representing  South Korea
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Singles
Silver medal – second place 2012 London Team
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing Team
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2006 Bremen Team
Silver medal – second place 2008 Guangzhou Team
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Osaka Team
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Doha Team
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Zagreb Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Moscow Team
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Dortmund Team
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2007 Barcelona Singles
Silver medal – second place 2009 Linz Team
Silver medal – second place 2011 Magdeburg Team
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Busan Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2002 Busan Team
Silver medal – second place 2002 Busan Mixed Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2006 Doha Team
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Doha Singles
Ryu Seung-min
Hangul
유승민
Hanja
柳承敏
Revised RomanizationYu Seungmin
McCune–ReischauerRyu Sŭngmin
IPAju.sɯŋ.min

In March 2022, Ryu signed with World Star Entertainment.[8]

Style

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Ryu Seung-min plays penhold style. Unlike players like Ma Lin and Wang Hao, Ryu never uses the backside of his blade – in fact, he does not even have rubber on it. Ryu relies on his outstanding footwork, explosive forehand loops and drives to win points. For some time he used Xiom (South Korea) table paddles and rubbers playing with his signature model "Ryu Seung Min Special" penhold and has been using ProZRSM ever since his victory at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Lately he switched again to Butterfly (Japan) equipment and now he uses their Ryu Seung-min G-Max blade with Tenergy 05.

As of December 1, 2012, he is ranked 20th in the world. His top ranking was world number 2 in September 2004, and since November 2001 he was always in top 25 of the ITTF world ranking list.

Career records

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Singles (as of April 9, 2015)[9]

Men's doubles

  • Olympics: 4th (2000).
  • World Championships: QF (2001, 05, 09).
  • Pro Tour winner (8): China (Qingdao) Open 2002; Croatian, Egypt, USA Open 2004; Korea Open 2005; Chinese Taipei Open 2006; Kuwait Open 2007; Brazil Open 2012.
    Runner-up (4): China (Changchun) Open 2000; Korea Open 2010; Austrian Open 2010; Japan Open 2012.
  • Pro Tour Grand Finals appearances: 4. Record: SF (2012).
  • Asian Games: winner (2002).
  • Asian Championships: SF (2005).

Mixed doubles

  • World Championships: QF (2003).
  • Asian Games: runner-up (2002).

Team

  • Olympics: 3rd (2008), 2nd (2012).
  • World Championships: 2nd (2006, 08); 3rd (2001, 04, 10, 12).
  • World Team Cup: 2nd (2009); 3rd (2007).
  • Asian Games: 2nd (2002, 06).
  • Asian Championships: 2nd (2005).

Filmography

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Television show

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Year Title Network Role Notes Ref.
2022 All Table Tennis! tvN Coach [10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "ITTF player's profile". International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "ITTF world ranking". International Table Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Yu Seung-Min". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
  4. ^ "Beijing 2008 Team men Results - Olympic table-tennis".
  5. ^ "London 2012 Team men Results - Olympic table-tennis".
  6. ^ "Seung min Ryu". The International Olympic Committee. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  7. ^ "Our Ambassadors - ITTF Foundation". www.ittffoundation.org. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  8. ^ Ahn Jin-young (March 24, 2022). "남자 탁구 전설' 유승민, 남현희와 한솥밥…월드스타와 계약" [Legend of Men’s Table Tennis’ Yoo Seung-min, Nam Hyun-hee and Han Pot Rice… contract with world star] (in Korean). Munhwa Ilbo. Retrieved March 24, 2022 – via Naver.
  9. ^ "ITTF Statistics". International Table Tennis Federation. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  10. ^ Moon Ji-yeon (February 15, 2022). "올 탁구나!' 이진호·강승윤·신예찬·이태환, 멤버 완성..포스터 공개" ['All table tennis!' Lee Jin-ho, Kang Seung-yoon, Shin Ye-chan, Lee Tae-hwan, members completed.. Poster released] (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Retrieved February 15, 2022 – via Naver.
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