N. Korea dominates in weightlifting in return to int'l sports competition

HANGZHOU(Yonhap) -- Marking its return to international multisport competition after a five-year absence, North Korea dominated in weightlifting at the 19th Asian Games in China. Athletes and officials from the reclusive regime also generated headlines away from the field of play in and around Hangzhou. North Korea had been absent from the past two major international sports competitions. It skipped the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021, citing COVID-19 concerns. The International Olympic Committe

Oct. 9, 2023

19th Asian Games draw to conclusion with ceremony celebrating memories of Hangzhou

HANGZHOU (Yonhap) -- The 19th Asian Games ended Sunday with a celebration of the memories created over the past two weeks in the Chinese host city of Hangzhou. With nearly 12,000 athletes from 45 nations in action, this was the largest-ever edition of the Asian Games, which began in 1951. These competitors vied for 481 gold medals in 61 disciplines in 40 sports. The Hangzhou Asiad was initially set for September 2022 but was postponed by a year due to lingering COVID-19 concerns. China made it

Oct. 9, 2023

Men's, women's nat'l volleyball coaches let go after disappointing Asiad

The South Korean volleyball governing body announced Sunday it has parted ways with the head coaches of both the men's and women's national teams, in light of their disappointing performances at the 19th Asian Games in China. The Korea Volleyball Association (KVA) said Im Do-hun, the men's coach, will not be brought back after his contract expired following his team's early exit from the Asian Games tournament in Hangzhou in late September. For the women's team, Cesar He

Oct. 8, 2023

Hyundai’s decadeslong support for archery pays off at Asian Games

Hyundai Motor Group’s decadeslong sponsorship for the Korean archery team has once again stepped into the spotlight as the national team swept up a total of 11 medals across individual and team categories over the past week at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Industry watchers say the Korean auto giant’s systemic support, led by Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo and his son and Executive Chair Chung Euisun, has laid the foundation for the national team to demonstrate their f

Oct. 8, 2023

Swimmer Kim Woo-min, archer Lim Si-hyeon voted S. Korean MVPs

Swimmer Kim Woo-min and archer Lim Si-hyeon, who each won three gold medals for South Korea at the 19th Asian Games in China, were named the country's male and female most valuable players of the competition on Sunday. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee announced the results of the voting cast by members of the South Korean media covering the continental competition in Hangzhou during its wrap-up press conference. The Asiad will draw to a conclusion with the closing ceremony scheduled

Oct. 8, 2023

World badminton champ An Se-young claims Asian Games singles gold

HANGZHOU, China -- Reigning world champion An Se-young claimed the women's singles badminton title at the 19th Asian Games on Saturday, becoming the first South Korean to win the Asiad gold in 29 years. An beat China's Chen Yu Fei 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 21-8) in the women's singles final at Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China. This medal is An's first singles title at the Asian Games and the second gold at the Hangzhou Games following the one in the women's team event. I

Oct. 8, 2023

S. Korean women dominate recurve archery at Asian Games

South Korean women's archery team continued its dominance in the recurve archery of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, winning gold medal in the team event on Friday while two South Koreans cometed in the finals of the individual event on Saturday. Lim Si-hyeon beat her compatriot An San 6-0 in the finals held in Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre, winning her third gold medal in the Asian Game. The two archers and their teammate Choi Mi-sun had won the gold medal in the women's recurve team

Oct. 7, 2023

Mun Hye-gyeong wins women's singles gold in soft tennis

HANGZHOU, China -- South Korea's Mun Hye-gyeong struck gold in the women's singles event in soft tennis at the Asian Games on Saturday, bringing the country its first soft tennis title in China. Mun defeated Noa Takahashi of Japan 4-0 (4-2, 4-2, 4-0, 4-0) at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Tennis Centre in Hangzhou. Before Mun's breakthrough, South Korea previously won bronze medals in the men's and women's team events, mixed doubles and men's singles. In soft tenn

Oct. 7, 2023

S. Korean Lim Si-hyeon wins women's recurve archery gold over teammate An San

HANGZHOU, China -- South Korean archer Lim Si-hyeon defeated teammate An San for the gold medal in the women's individual recurve event at the Asian Games in China on Saturday. Lim beat An by the set score of 6-0 at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre in Hangzhou on the last day of archery competition here. Lim became the second triple gold medalist for South Korea in Hangzhou, after swimmer Kim Woo-min. Lim had earlier won gold medals in the mixed team and women's team events. Lim is also th

Oct. 7, 2023

So Chae-won wins silver, Yang Jae-hoo wins bronze in compound archery

HANGZHOU, China -- South Korea picked up two medals in compound archery at the Asian Games in China on Saturday, the final day of archery. So Chae-won took silver in the women's individual compound after losing to Jyothi Surekha Vennam of India 149-145 at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre in Hangzhou. It was So's third medal in Hangzhou, after her silver in the compound mixed team event and bronze in the women's team event. In the individual compound final, archers each take 15 arrows,

Oct. 7, 2023

Ju-jitsu champion soars to gold after starting career by chance

HANGZHOU, China -- Koo Bon-cheol brought South Korea its first gold medal in the martial art of ju-jitsu at the ongoing Asian Games on Friday, the high point of a career launched by an innocent mistake. Now 26, Koo signed up for a membership at a local gym when he was 20, hoping to learn mixed martial arts (MMA) as a hobby -- except that the place wasn't teaching MMA. "After a while, I realized the gym was specifically built for ju-jitsu," Koo said after capturing gold in the me

Oct. 6, 2023

S. Korea sweeps up 2 gold medals at stake in recurve team events

HANGZHOU, China -- South Korea swept up two gold medals up for grabs in the archery team competition at the 19th Asian Games on Friday, proving their world-class competitiveness on the regional stage. The trio of Lim Si-hyeon, Choi Mi-sun and An San defeated China by the set score of 5-3 for the seventh consecutive Asiad gold medal at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Center in Hangzhou. Hours later, Kim Je-deok, Lee Woo-seok and Oh Jin-hyek defeated India 5-1 in the men's team gold medal match held at

Oct. 6, 2023

S. Korean breakdancers eye gold at Asian Games

South Korean breakdance competitors are eyeing the top stop for the Asian Games' first-ever breakdancing competitions, the preliminary round of which kicked off Friday. Two male and two female dancers Kim Heon-woo, Kim Hong-yul, Jeon Ji-ye and Kwon Seong-hui will represent Korea at the dance battle at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. They are stars in the breakdancing world, better known by their stage names -- Wing, Hong 10, Freshbella and Starry, respectively. Two golds are up for

Oct. 6, 2023

S. Korea takes silver in women's handball after big loss to Japan

South Korea grabbed silver in women's handball at the Asian Games in China on Thursday, unable to add to its gold medal collection following a crushing defeat to Japan. South Korea lost 29-19 at Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre in Hangzhou, barely putting up a fight in the blowout. South Korea's only lead of the match came when Ryu Eun-hee opened the scoring at the 2:20 mark. From there, Japan opened up a 7-2 advantage over the next 10 or so minutes and didn't look back

Oct. 5, 2023

S. Korea wins all-Korean bronze medal match in women's basketball

South Korea won the first-ever bronze medal match against North Korea in women's basketball at the 19th Asian Games in China, finishing the continental competition in third place. In the match for third place at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, South Korea beat North Korea 93-63 to claim bronze. The bronze is South Korea's fifth consecutive medal in an Asian Games, following the silver medal won by the unified Korean team in 2018. And it was the first time that Sou

Oct. 5, 2023

S. Korea grabs silver in men's compound archery team event

South Korea was on target for the silver medal in the men's compound archery team event at the Asian Games in China on Thursday, earning its fourth medal from the sport in two days. The trio of Joo Jae-hoon, Yang Jae-won and Kim Jong-ho lost to India 235-230 in the final at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre in Hangzhou. South Korea failed to defend its Asiad title from five years ago, with Kim having also competed on that 2018 team. This is Joo's second medal in Hangzhou, following his silver

Oct. 5, 2023

S. Korea wins mixed team gold in recurve archery

South Korea grabbed the gold medal in archery's recurve mixed team event at the Asian Games in China on Wednesday. Lim Si-hyeon and Lee Woo-seok defeated Satsuki Noda and Takaharu Furukawa of Japan by the set score of 6-0 for their first career Asiad gold medal at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre in Hangzhou. This was also the second archery medal for South Korea on Wednesday, coming about five hours after So Chae-won and Joo Jae-hoon teamed up for silver in the compound mixed team event. The r

Oct. 4, 2023

S. Korea wins gold medal in men's team Go

South Korea claimed the gold medal in the men's team competition of the board game Go at the 19th Asian Games in China on Tuesday, defending the title won in 2010. The team of Kim Myung-hun, Park Jeong-hwan, Shin Jin-seo, Byeon Sang-il and Shin Min-jun defeated China 4-1 in the final at Hangzhou Qi-Yuan (Zhili) Chess Hall in Hangzhou. South Korea won the men's team title at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, when Go was last competed as a medal sport. In the best-of-five final,

Oct. 3, 2023

Distraught roller skater apologizes for costly premature celebration

HANGZHOU -- Following a crushing defeat at the finish line of a roller skating relay final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Monday, South Korean skater Jung Cheol-won had little else to say but sorry. Jung was the anchor for South Korea in the men's 3,000-meter relay final at Qintang Roller Sports Centre, with Choi In-ho and Choi Gwang-ho also joining him. Thinking he'd beaten Huang Yu-Lin of Chinese Taipei at the finish, Jung raised his arms in celebration. That came a fraction of

Oct. 2, 2023

No regrets for roller skaters after taking silver in relay

HANGZHOU -- No competitive athlete tries to finish in second place. The ultimate goal is always to take the top prize. That was also the goal for the South Korean women's roller skating relay team at the Asian Games in China. But after settling for silver, Lee Seul, Park Min-jeong and Lee Ye-rim said they were pleased with the color of their medal, knowing that they had given a valiant effort and laid the foundation for a bright future together. South Korea finished second in the women�

Oct. 2, 2023