Brothers from the table tennis team at Namsan Elementary School in Uiryeong County, Gyeongnam, a rural area with a population of 25,000, are attracting attention with their excellent results in domestic and international competitions.According to Namsan Elementary School, brothers Ma Young-min (Grade 12-6) and Ma Young-joon (Grade 11-5) recently competed in two World Table Tennis (WTT) tournaments in Slovenia and Croatia and won together.Youngmin, the elder brother, competed in the U13 event in Slovenia, where he defeated Kim Ji-hoo (Daegwangjung, Seoul) in a five-set thriller.Younger brother Youngjun won the U11 final, defeating an Austrian player in a deuce tiebreaker.The brothers also stood atop the medal podium in Croatia.The brothers had previously won titles side by side in two previous tournaments in Germany and Poland.They have also competed in various other tournaments.”Young Min-i is known for his serve and quick attacking ability, while Young Jun-i is known for his solid defence and relentless focus,” table tennis coach Lee Jun-young of Namsancho told Yonhap News Agency.”If they continue to grow like this, we expect them to earn the Taekwondo mark,” he said.The Ma brothers were born into a table tennis family and were familiar with rackets and balls since childhood.Their father, Ma Bong-hyun, is a former Universiade table tennis player, and their mother, Cho Mi-rae, is a table tennis physical education coach.The Ma brothers lived in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, until their father passed away and they moved with him to pursue table tennis in earnest.The brothers are said to have been familiar with table tennis since their father, Ma Bong-hyun, ran a table tennis centre in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.”The brothers are ranked first or second in their respective grades among more than 500 players in the Korean Primary Table Tennis Federation,” the coach explained.The brothers are currently preparing for the WTT event in Thailand.They head there on the 13th.Namsan Elementary School is a nationally renowned table tennis school that has produced national champions such as Park Kang-hyun.There are currently 13 students in grades 1 to 6.In addition to Gyeongnam, some of the graduates come from Jeonnam, Gyeonggi, and Sejong.The school also won all events in the boys’ elementary school division at the 39th Presidential National Table Tennis Championships held in Taebaek, Gangwon 온라인카지노 Province, from late June to early July.
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