Hyun Jung-hwa
Country: South KoreaHighest level of competition: Olympics (1988, 1992)
The story of a North and South Korean united front beating the invincible Chinese team at the 1991 World Championships is one that is yet to be forgotten by followers of the sport all over the world. At the centre of the driving force behind that iconic victory (which in addition to all the newspaper articles, even has a film made in its honour) is the now South Korean national women’s team coach Hyun Jung-hwa.
The only Korean table tennis player to have won the Grand Slam, the Hall of Fame inductee’s finest moment jostles between the above victory and the gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 1989, Paraguay honoured her by placing her on their postage stamp!