Park Chae-yu (24), the representative of Korea Special Olympics table tennis, suddenly approached the scoreboard during the game, lowered Korea’s score, and raised the opponent’s score. Officials, referees, and opposing team players who saw this scene made puzzled expressions. What did you do?
On the 22nd, I met Chaeyu Park in person at the team’s quarters in Berlin, Germany, and listened to her story before I could understand her actions메이저놀이터. The following is a reconstruction of the ‘scoreboard correction case’ through the story of Park Chae-yu and Park Yong-seok (56), coach of the table tennis team.
The table tennis doubles India match at the ‘2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games’ held at Messe Berlin on the 21st. After taking the first set, Korea was trailing 0-3 at the beginning of the second set. Chaeyu Park accidentally hit the ball. However, the referee overturned the score on the Korean side, making it 1-3. At that time, Park Chae-yu silently approached the scoreboard and changed Korea’s score from 1 to 0 and India’s score from 3 to 4.
Park Chae-yu thought the referee’s decision was wrong. She obviously thought the ball I hit was out, but we scored. Although she was behind in the beginning of the second set, she felt it was right to correct the score herself, so she put it into action. It’s my first time doing something like this. But her body reacted before her mind.
The referees made a gesture of ‘best’ towards Park Chae-yu. Park Chae-yu and the Korean team, who showed true sportsmanship, eventually succeeded in reversing and won with a set score of 2-0. Manners and results were all taken care of.
Director Park said, “That doesn’t happen often in table tennis. (Park) Chaeyu seems to have acted that way instinctively.” It’s good to do it. I think the scene came out because the director and coaches who taught Chaeyu table tennis gave him character education well,” he said with admiration.
Park Chae-yu encountered table tennis in middle school. Since then she has been playing ping pong for fun and she has been holding her ping pong paddle for close to ten years. This is the first time she has participated in the Special Olympics, a sports festival for people with developmental disabilities. Now that she competed, it would be nice for her to win a gold medal, said Park Chae-yu, who wanted to show off her medal to her family.
The late Pil-jae, who played doubles with Park Chae-yu, said that the most thrilling moment was when she scored as a serve. It would be really nice to win a medal at an international competition with a lot of spectators.
Coach Park, who has been participating as a coach since the 1999 tournament, said that the results are good, but he hopes that this tournament will serve as an opportunity for the players to grow one step and become members of society. And he wanted to become an honest player and an honest member of society like Park Chae-yu.