20 finalists advance on Produce 101

MMO trainee Kang Daniel and Maroo Entertainment trainee Park Ji Hoon emerged as the top 2 candidates in the ranking.

Picture for representation
Park Ji Hoon (left) and Kang Daniel emerged as the Top 2 contestants. Screenshot from Mnet video

It was another surprise-filled episode on the Korean survival TV show "Produce 101" as the remaining 35 contestants were cut down to 20 and 15 were eliminated. MMO trainee Kang Daniel and Maroo Entertainment trainee Park Ji Hoon emerged as the top 2 candidates in the ranking.

Kang eventually was announced as first place with 828,148 votes. This is the first time that he bagged the No. 1 spot since the program started, rising seven spots from his eight place finish in the last elimination.

Park got 630,198 votes to place second, rising from third place in the last elimination. He topped the rankings for four consecutive times before dropping to third place.

The surprise third place was Ha Sung Woon of Ardor & Able who received 413,654 votes. Everyone was shocked when his name was announced since he placed 25th in the last ranking.

Another unexpected result was that of Lai Guan Lin who dropped to 20th place from second. Trainees gasped as his name was not called in the top 4. He competed for the final slot against Kim Yongguk but eventually won with 188,940 votes.

The fourth to 11th places are Bae Jin Young, C9 Entertainment, 389,982 votes; Kim Samuel, Brave Entertainment, 378,491; Park Woo-Jin, Brand New Music, 372,493; NU'EST member Kim Jong Hyun of Pledis Entertainment, 367,052; Ong Sung Woo of Fantagio, 358,656; Yoon Ji-Sung, MMO, 333,974; Lee Dae Hwi of Brand New Music, 325,990; and NU'EST member Hwang Min-yun of Pledis Entertainment, 315,650.

Placing 12th to 20th places are NU'EST member Kang Dong Ho of Pledis Entertainment, 314,807; Kim Jae Hwan, individual trainee, 259,776; Ahn Hyung Seob of Yuehua Entertainment, 254,984; NU'EST member Choi Min Ki of Pledis Entertainment, 217,734; Yoo Seon Ho, Cube Entertainment, 209,168; Im Young Min of Brand New Music, 197,721; Joo Hak Nyeon of Cre.ker Entertainment, 197,194; Jung Se Woon of Starship Entertainment, 196,223; and Lai Guan Lin.

The 20 finalists were divided into two groups that will compete for the Top 11 slots. The winning 11 trainees will debut as a group in Korea.