[Asian Games] Men's 3x3 Basketball Finishes in 4th Place

Lost 20-21 to Mongolia in the 3rd Place Playoff

The men's 3x3 basketball national team finished in 4th place at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

On the 1st, at the Deqing basketball court in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, during the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games 3x3 basketball men's semifinal between Korea and Taiwan, Korea's Lee Won-seok is taking a shot.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Led by coach Kang Yang-hyun, the team lost 20-21 to Mongolia in the third-place match held on the afternoon of the 1st at the Deqing basketball court in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.

South Korea's team, consisting of Seo Myeong-jin (87 cm), Kim Dong-hyun (190 cm), Lee Doo-won (204 cm), and Lee Won-seok (207 cm), had an average height of 197 cm.

They were expected to have an advantage before the game due to their taller average height compared to Mongolia (185 cm). Mongolia had struggled against the height of Mohamed Abbaser, registered at 202 cm, in their semifinal match against Qatar.

However, Mongolia dominated the perimeter and took early control of the game. Lee Doo-won and Lee Won-seok each made a dunk within about two minutes of the game’s start to try to break Mongolia’s momentum, but the atmosphere cooled after Lee Won-seok made a turnover.

The team fell behind 4-11 after conceding three consecutive 2-point shots to Mongolia’s Migmalsuren Ulziiorshig, but they gradually caught up by scoring under the basket. With Kim Dong-hyun’s 2 points and Lee Won-seok’s free throws, the gap narrowed to 11-12, but Batjolig Sukhbat scored 2 points, a cut-in basket, and free throws in succession, extending the lead to 12-16.

The team tied the game at 20-20 just before the end, but conceded a final cut-in basket. In 3x3 basketball, the first team to reach 21 points wins.

Korea had previously won the silver medal at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.