Spectators in Daejeon witnessed an astonishing final day at the 2018 International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Korea Open on Sunday,… featuring the crowning of a triple gold medalist for the first time in its history.
On top of that, the tournament has strengthened the legacy of sports diplomacy between the two Koreas,... raising hope that sport can play a positive role in thawing ties between the two Koreas.
Won Jung-hwan reports.

South Korean table tennis player Jang Woo-jin had himself quite a weekend,… becoming the first-ever triple champion in the Korea Open's 18-year history.
Cheered on by over six-thousand fans packed into the Chungmu gymnasium in Deajeon, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul,… Jang defeated Liang Jingkun of China 4-0 in Sunday's men's singles final.

Before the men's singles final, Jang had already basked in gold medal glory in the mixed doubles with North Korean player Cha Hyo-sim and in the men's doubles with Lim Jong-hoon.
Of his three gold medals,… Jang said the mixed doubles title with Cha meant the most to him,… explaining it was a once-in-a-lifetime gold medal that will go down in history.
The united Korean pair overcame all odds to be crowned mixed doubles champions beating a Chinese duo 3-1 on Saturday.
It was the Koreas' first combined title in international table tennis since they won the women's team gold medal at the 1991 World Championships in Japan.

The unification of four Korean teams was part of the tournament's Ping Pong Diplomacy program to support solidarity through table tennis,… following the recent basketball diplomacy that helped expand sports exchanges earlier this month.
But the unified team's gold-medal winning performance serves as a massive boost for the two countries' preparations ahead of the upcoming inter-Korean sporting exchanges at the 2018 Asian Games in August.
South and North Korea have agreed to field joint teams in three sports including women's basketball, dragon boat racing and rowing in Jakarta.

The 16 North Korean players who between them won two golds and two bronzes at the Korea Open will return to the North on Monday.
President Moon Jae-in released a congratulatory message on Sunday, saying the two Koreas had become one again through sports and the victory shows how strong the South and North can be when they work together.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.