Shin Yu-bin continues her "military-style" approach to improve her ranking, collaborating with Du Kaichun in women's doubles, which has garnered attention.

The 21-year-old South Korean table tennis ace Shin Yu-bin is on her "military-style" quest to boost her ITTF world ranking. Reports indicate that her upcoming event is the 2025 WTT Regular Challenge in Zagreb, Croatia, starting on the 24th local time, where she will participate in women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles.

The scene of Shin Yu-bin's matches during the 2025 Doha World Table Tennis Championships.

Shin Yu-bin recently finished competing at the 2025 WTT Star Challenge Ljubljana, which concluded last weekend in Slovenia. There, she teamed up with Lin Zhongxun to win the mixed doubles championship and secured the women's doubles silver medal alongside Choi Hyo-joo. In Zagreb, Shin will once again pair with left-handed player Choi Hyo-joo in women's doubles, while her mixed doubles partner remains Lin Zhongxun, with whom she won a bronze medal at last year's Paris Olympics and the Doha World Championships in May this year.

Shin Yu-bin partnering with Lin Zhongxun (left) in mixed doubles at the 2025 Doha World Table Tennis Championships.

Additionally, after the Zagreb event, Shin plans to compete in the "2025 WTT American Grand Slam" taking place in Las Vegas, USA, from July 3 to 13. Notably, her women's doubles partner will be Hong Kong's top player Du Kaichun, rather than Choi Hyo-joo. Du, currently ranked 35th in women's singles, previously partnered with Huang Zhen-ting in the mixed doubles bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Lin Zhongxun/Shin Yu-bin, making them the backdrop for Korea's strong bronze medal performance.

According to the rules of the 2025 WTT American Grand Slam, each country (region) can only send one pair for women's doubles, and the world-ranked 11th duo of Kim Na-young/Yoo Han-na has priority for the Korean women's doubles team. The Shin Yu-bin/Yoo Han-na pair, who won a bronze medal in women's doubles at this year's Doha World Championships, is currently ranked 10th in the world. However, since the 2025 WTT American Grand Slam is not an event at the national team level, the Korean team has formed its doubles pair based on club affiliations. For Shin Yu-bin, unable to team up with Choi Hyo-joo, she inevitably sought a partner from outside associations, eventually finding a perfect match with Du Kaichun after some inquiries.

At the 2025 Doha World Table Tennis Championships, Shin Yu-bin (left) with her women's doubles partner Yoo Han-na.

Korean Air's head coach Zhu Shihe stated to the media on the 25th: "Each country can only send one pair for women's doubles, and if they form doubles with players from other countries (regions), there can be a maximum of two pairs participating." He added, "Since Du Kaichun's schedule aligns, they will compete together in women's doubles. It seems to be Shin Yu-bin's first time partnering with an outside association player."

Shin Yu-bin is ranked 10th in the ITTF women's singles world rankings, and her mixed doubles partnership with Lin Zhongxun is ranked 5th. Following the retirement of her former partner, Tian Zhixi, who won the women's doubles gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, Shin has been searching for her women's doubles partner. In February, she competed in the women's doubles at the 2025 WTT Singapore Grand Slam with her senior teammate Lee Eun-hye, and in May at the Doha World Championships, she partnered with Yoo Han-na and Choi Hyo-joo in women's doubles.

At the 2025 Doha World Table Tennis Championships, the combination of Huang Zhen-ting/Du Kaichun (right) won their fourth mixed doubles medal at the World Championships.

Coach Zhu Shihe explained: "If you want to secure a good seed position in major international competitions, the only way left is to improve your world ranking. Participating in women's doubles with Du Kaichun is also an unavoidable choice in managing the world ranking."