[Asian Games] Today's Matches: Expect Multiple Golds in Archery, Badminton, Baseball, Soccer, and More

Up to 5 Gold Medals Possible in Archery and Badminton
Archery's Im Si-hyeon Aims for Triple Crown, Badminton's An Se-young Targets Double Crown
Men's Soccer Rivalry Korea-Japan Match... Baseball Team Seeks Revenge Against Taiwan
Women's Hockey Final Against China... Weightlifter Park Hye-jeong Expected to Win Gold

As of the 7th, one day before the closing ceremony, South Korea has recorded 36 gold medals. The initial goal of winning more than 50 gold medals set before the start of the games is no longer achievable. However, some progress has been made in narrowing the gap with Japan. At the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, South Korea won 49 gold medals, 26 fewer than second-place Japan, which had 75. In this tournament, Japan's gold medal count stands at 47, making the current gap 11. South Korea's total medal count is 169, the same as Japan's.

China, leveraging the advantage of being the host country, has delivered overwhelming results, causing both South Korea and Japan to see a decrease in their medal counts. China has currently won 187 gold medals, approaching the historic milestone of 200. At the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, China won 132 gold medals.

On the 7th, South Korea aims to further reduce the gap with Japan by winning a cluster of gold medals. They are targeting golds in badminton, archery, soccer, baseball, hockey, weightlifting, sport climbing, and breaking.

In archery, which swept the recurve men's and women's team gold medals the previous day, up to two gold medals are targeted. On this day, gold medalists will be decided in four events: compound men’s and women’s individual, and recurve men’s and women’s individual.

Lim Si-hyun of the archery national team draws the bowstring during the women's team recurve final at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held on the 6th at the Puyang Inhu Sports Center in Hangzhou, China.
Photo by Yonhap News

In the recurve women's individual event, which has become a family affair, the gold medal has already been secured. Lim Si-hyun and An San, who won the recurve women's team gold medal together the previous day, will compete for the individual gold medal. The match is scheduled for 11:50 AM. If Lim Si-hyun wins, she will become a triple gold medalist. Earlier, So Chae-won will aim for gold in the compound women's individual final at 10:00 AM.

With one bronze medal already secured, they are aiming for one more. At 10:20 AM, Joo Jae-hoon and Yang Jae-won will face off in the compound men's individual bronze medal match. At 12:10 PM, Lee Woo-seok, who has already won two gold medals, will compete in the recurve men's individual bronze medal match.

In badminton, up to three gold medals are targeted. Only the finals of five detailed events remain: men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. South Korea is aiming for gold in women’s singles, women’s doubles, and men’s doubles.

First, the men’s doubles pair Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho will play the final match at 3:40 PM. They will face the Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, ranked third in the world. Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho are ranked 15th globally. However, their momentum is strong after defeating the world’s second-ranked Chinese pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in the round of 16. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost 0-2 to another Korean men’s doubles pair, Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae (ranked 4th), in the men’s team semifinals on the 30th of last month.

The women’s doubles pair Baek Ha-na and Lee So-yeon, ranked second in the world, will face the top-ranked Chinese pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan at 5:00 PM. Baek Ha-na and Lee So-yeon aim to continue the momentum from the women’s team final on the 1st, where they defeated Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan 2-0 (21-18, 21-14) and contributed to winning the gold medal.

World number one in women’s singles, An Se-young, will face world number three Chinese player Chen Yufei at 5:40 PM, the latest match of the day. An Se-young also aims to maintain the good form she showed in the women’s team final, where she defeated Chen Yufei 2-0 (21-12, 21-13).

Badminton national team player An Se-young is celebrating after defeating China's He Bingjiao in the women's singles semifinal at the Hangzhou Asian Games held on the 6th at Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The baseball team will play the gold medal match against Taiwan at 7:00 PM. This is an opportunity to avenge their loss in the group stage. South Korea lost 0-4 to Taiwan in the group stage, which caused them to advance as second place and start the super round with one loss. They revived their chances by defeating Japan 2-0 and China 8-1 in the super round. If they avenge Taiwan, the baseball team will achieve a fourth consecutive gold medal.

The men’s soccer team will face their longtime rival Japan in the final at 9:00 PM. South Korea aims to replicate the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games final result. At that time, South Korea and Japan also met in the final. After 90 minutes of scoreless play, Lee Seung-woo and Hwang Hee-chan scored consecutive goals in extra time to secure a 2-1 victory and the gold medal.

On the other hand, Japan aims to replicate their victory in the quarterfinals of the under-23 Asian Cup last June. At that time, South Korea suffered a 0-3 defeat to Japan.

South Korea has shown overwhelming performance in this tournament, scoring 25 goals and conceding only 2 in 6 matches. Japan is also formidable, scoring 17 goals and conceding only 2 in 5 matches. If South Korea defeats Japan, they will achieve a historic first three-peat in men’s soccer at the Asian Games.

The women’s hockey team will face host China in the final at 7:30 PM. This is a chance to avenge their loss in the bronze medal match at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, where South Korea lost 1-2 to China and failed to win a medal.

The women’s volleyball team will play the 5th-6th place match against Taiwan at 7:30 PM.

The first gold medal in weightlifting is expected. Park Hye-jung, competing in the women’s super heavyweight category (87 kg and above), won first place in all three categories?snatch 124 kg, clean and jerk 165 kg, and total 289 kg?at the 2023 World Championships. With Li Yuanwen of China, considered the best in this weight class, absent due to an elbow injury, Park Hye-jung’s chances of winning gold have increased. The women’s super heavyweight weightlifting event starts at 4:00 PM.

At 8:00 PM, the final weightlifting event, the men’s super heavyweight category (109 kg and above), will begin. Lee Je-sang, who set a Korean record in the clean and jerk for the 109 kg and above category at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships, will compete.

In wrestling, which has secured two bronze medals so far, Gong Byung-min (men’s freestyle 74 kg), Kim Kwan-wook (86 kg), Seo Joo-hwan (97 kg), and Jeong Ui-hyun (125 kg) will compete for additional medals. Preliminary matches start at 11:00 AM, with medal matches beginning at 6:00 PM.

In sport climbing, Seo Chae-hyun aims for gold in the women’s combined (lead and bouldering) event. The bouldering semifinals start at 10:00 AM, lead semifinals at 2:20 PM, and the top eight will compete in the final at 7:35 PM.

Medals are also expected in breaking, which was introduced as an official event for the first time in this tournament. The men’s team members Kim Hong-yeol and Kim Heon-woo, and the women’s team members Jeon Ji-ye and Kwon Sung-hee, all advanced to the quarterfinals. From 7:00 PM, the men’s and women’s quarterfinals and semifinals will take place, with the bronze medal matches and gold medal matches scheduled for 9:00 PM and 9:20 PM, respectively.

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