[Asian Games] Women's Basketball 'Nambuk Daegyeol' Victory, Quarterfinals Advancement Virtually Confirmed

Events with unified teams in 2018
Now face each other as opponents in the same group
Proving skill difference and winning comfortably

In the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, the women's basketball teams from North and South Korea formed a unified team, but in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, they faced each other as opponents, with South Korea emerging victorious. The women's basketball team, led by coach Jeong Seon-min, defeated North Korea 81-62 on the 29th in the Group C second match of the women's basketball group league held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Zhejiang Province, China. Having virtually secured a spot in the quarterfinals, South Korea will play its final group league match against Taiwan on the 1st of next month.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The early momentum was with North Korea. North Korea, led by the 205 cm tall center Park Jin-a, born in 2003, once led 21-11 in the second quarter. However, South Korea began its comeback with a three-point play by Lee Hae-ran (Samsung Life Insurance) and four consecutive points by Park Ji-soo (KB). Lee Hae-ran and Park Ji-soo alternately succeeded in field goals again, scoring 11 consecutive points to take the lead 22-21. Eventually, South Korea led 33-25 at halftime. From the third quarter onward, South Korea extended the gap without any significant crisis and succeeded in securing the victory against North Korea.

This match was the first team ball game confrontation between North and South Korea in this tournament. The women's basketball team had formed a unified team in the previous Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. Park Ji-soo, Kang Yi-seul (both from KB), and Park Ji-hyun (Woori Bank), who were members of the unified team at that time, also participated in this tournament. North Korea also sent coach Jeong Seong-sim, who was a coach at that time, along with Ro Suk-young and Kim Hye-yeon to this tournament. The North Korean cheering squad took their place on one side of the stands and held an enthusiastic cheering battle, while South Korea was supported by Lee Ki-heung, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, team officials, and Korean residents cheering for the Korean team’s victory.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.