The goal is overall 3rd place... Korean delegation main team heads to Hangzhou

Medal Race from the 23rd to the 8th of Next Month
Director Choi Yoon: "Hope Sports Bring Happiness to the People and Athletes"

The main contingent of the South Korean delegation participating in the Hangzhou Asian Games departed for Hangzhou, China on the 20th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Thirty-five headquarters officials, including team leader Choi Yoon and national team village director Jang Jae-geun, along with sixty athletes, left through Incheon International Airport that day. The delegation includes fourteen members of the tennis team, seventeen from the shooting team, twenty-two from the hockey team, and seven from the skateboarding team. Before departure, they gathered together with a banner bearing the Taegeukgi and slogans wishing for victory, shouting energetically, "Team Korea Fighting!" Other athletes boarded flights to China according to their respective competition schedules.

The Hangzhou Asian Games will be held from the 23rd of this month to the 8th of next month across six cities including Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, China. South Korea is sending a record-breaking delegation of 1,140 athletes competing in thirty-nine sports. The goals are to win at least fifty gold medals and to finish third overall. Lee Ki-heung, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, urged the team, "The most important thing is to return safely without any accidents. The pandemic caused many difficulties with the postponement of the games, but I hope you demonstrate the skills you have honed." Team leader Choi Yoon said, "I believe we can achieve third place overall," but added, "Regardless of the outcome, I hope both the public and athletes find happiness through sports."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Some athletes have already started competing from the 19th. The men's soccer team won their first Group E match against Kuwait 9-0 at the Jinhua Stadium in Zhejiang Province, China on the 19th. The men's volleyball team played their first Group C match against India on the same day. On the 21st, the men's soccer team will play their second group match against Thailand, and the men's volleyball team will have their second match against Cambodia.