Two Koreas To Form Joint Table Tennis Team For Korea Open

Seoul, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jul, 2018 ) :The two Koreas will form joint table tennis teams for the 2018 Korea Open next week, a report said Sunday, the latest sign of thawing ties between the neighbours.

The two countries will field joint teams in the men's and women's doubles as well as the mixed doubles in the tournament to be held in the South's city of Daejeon from Tuesday to Sunday, Yonhap news agency said.

It cited an unnamed official at the Korea Table Tennis Association.

If confirmed, it will be the third time that table tennis players from the two Koreas form a joint team following the 1991 world championships in Japan and this year's championships in Sweden.

The joint team in 1991 shocked the world by defeating defending champion China to win gold in the women's team event. This year's joint team won bronze in the women's team event in Sweden.

The Korea Table Tennis Association could not be immediately reached for comment.

The two countries are technically still at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice instead of a peace treaty, but sporting cooperation helped spark an ongoing diplomatic thaw after the North agreed to participate in the Winter Olympics held last February in the South.

The diplomatic detente triggered a rapid improvement in relations with both Seoul and Washington, culminating in last month's summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump in Singapore.

A group of South Korean basketball players visited the North earlier this month to hold friendly basketball matches with its athletes.

The two Koreas also recently announced they would field joint teams in three sports -- canoeing, rowing and women's basketball -- at next month's Asian Games to be held in Indonesia.