Ryu Seung-min (; ; born August 5, 1982) is a South Korean

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

player who won the gold medal at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in the men's singles competition. 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 Jan-Ove Waldner (; born 3 October 1965),Jan-Ove Waldner profile.'' Swedish Table Tennis Federation in Sweden commonly ''J-O Waldner'' or simply mononymously as ''J-O'' (), is a Swedish former professional table tennis player. He is often referre ...

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. Ryu is ranked twenty-fifth in the world as of July 2013. In 2016, Ryu became a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC), he was a member and Chair of the Athletes' Commission of the South Korean National Olympic Committee from 2016 to 2019. Since 2018, he counts among the ITTF Foundation Ambassadors, promoting sport for development and peace. In March 2022, Ryu signed with World Star Entertainment.

Style

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

. 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

Singles (as of April 9, 2015) *

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

: Gold medal (2004). *

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

: SF (2007). *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

appearances: 5. Record: runner-up (2007). * Pro Tour winner (3): Egypt, USA Open 2004; Chile Open 2008.
Runner-up (4): Swedish Open 2001; Brazil Open 2002; Japan Open 2005; Slovenian Open 2007; Kuwait Open 2012. * Pro Tour Grand Finals appearances: 9. Record: SF (2003, 05, 10). *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

: SF (2006). *

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics and wate ...

: SF (2003). 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 The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...

: 2nd (2009); 3rd (2007). * Asian Games: 2nd (2002, 06). * Asian Championships: 2nd (2005).

Filmography

Television show

References

External links

* ** ** * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryu, Seung-min 1982 births Living people South Korean male table tennis players Table tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic table tennis players for South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in table tennis Asian Games medalists in table tennis Olympic silver medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2006 Asian Games Table tennis players at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea South Korean International Olympic Committee members Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games World Table Tennis Championships medalists South Korean expatriate sportspeople in China 21st-century South Korean sportsmen