South Korea’s national team begins its bid for gold medals at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday. A total of 1,051 South Korean athletes and team representatives are taking part in the competition. South Korea aims to win up to 45 gold medals and place third in the medal standings behind China and Japan, Korea Herald reports.
Modern pentathlon and shooting
One of the first disciplines in which the South Korean team expects gold will be women’s modern pentathlon. Seong Seung-min helped South Korea win bronze in the team event at the previous Asian Games. In 2024, she became the first South Korean athlete to win the world modern pentathlon championship and, at the Paris Olympics that same year, the first Asian modern pentathlete to win an Olympic medal.
Kim Eun-ju, Shin Su-min and Jang Ha-eun will also compete in the final of the women’s event, featuring 18 participants. In the men’s event, defending Asian Games champion Jeong Woo-tae will compete for his third consecutive individual gold medal. Seo Chang-wan, Lee Jong-hyeon and Kim Yeong-ha will join him in the team competition.
South Korean athletes will also compete for the country’s second gold medal in the individual and team 10-metre air rifle events. Olympic champion Ban Hyo-jin leads the shooting team, which plans to win five gold medals in Nagoya.
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Teqball, swimming and basketball
In teqball, which has been included in the Asian Games programme for the first time, Lee Chun-seok will play in the men’s singles final against Ali Jalil Mezher Alelaiavi of Iraq. Teqball combines elements of football, table tennis and freestyle. Lee could become South Korea’s first medallist in the sport.
South Korea’s men’s and women’s soft tennis teams will seek to improve on their results at the previous Games, where both won bronze medals. Swimmer Hwang Sun-woo will compete in the 100-metre freestyle alongside Kim Yeong-beom, who surpassed Hwang’s record in the event at national competitions last year.
South Korea’s men’s basketball team will compete against tournament hosts Japan for its first gold medal in 12 years. The South Koreans finished first in Group A after two victories and reached the final by defeating Jordan in the quarter-finals and Iran in the semi-finals.
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