[Asian Games] Today's Matches: 400m Relay Medal Challenge... Men's and Women's Basketball Face China and Japan

2nd Place in 400m Relay Heats... Aiming for First Medal Since 1986 Games
Baduk Men’s and Women’s Teams Face China in Finals... Women’s Basketball and Handball in Semifinals vs China
Badminton An Se-young in Round of 32... Archery An San Competes in Quarterfinals and Semifinals

The men's and women's basketball national teams will face tough opponents China and Japan in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.

The men's basketball team will play against China at 1 PM in the quarterfinals. Having lost to Japan in the group stage and finishing second in their group, the men's team barely made it to the quarterfinals by winning the decisive match against Bahrain 88-73 the previous day. However, because they finished second rather than first in their group, they did not advance directly to the quarterfinals and now face the strongest team, China, with a physical disadvantage. China will have had three days of rest since their game on the 30th of last month. In contrast, Korea, having played an additional qualifying match, must play again after only 14 hours. China is aiming for their second consecutive championship and their ninth gold medal in Asian Games history.

The women's basketball team will play Japan in the semifinals at 9 PM. In the quarterfinals the previous day, Korea defeated the Philippines 93-71, and Japan beat Indonesia 89-47. Japan is ranked 9th in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) world rankings, higher than Korea's 13th, and is considered slightly stronger based on objective strength, having won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. The Korean women's basketball team is aiming for their second consecutive championship. If they defeat Japan, they will play the final against the winner of the North Korea-China match at 9 PM on the 5th.

The men's 4x400m relay team will challenge for a medal in the 400m final on the 3rd, marking the first medal attempt in 37 years since the bronze at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. The relay team, consisting of Go Seung-hwan, Lee Jae-sung, Kim Kuk-young, and Lee Jeong-tae (from left), advanced to the final as the second overall in the heats on the 2nd.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The men's 400m relay team consisting of Kim Guk-young, Lee Jeong-tae, Lee Jae-sung, and Park Won-jin is challenging for a medal for the first time in 37 years since winning bronze at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. The Korean team recorded 38.75 seconds in the preliminaries, just 0.01 seconds short of the Korean national record, finishing second overall behind China (38.62 seconds) to advance to the finals. The athletics finals starting at 8 PM will feature 10 gold medals in events including men's and women's 400m relay, men's and women's 400m hurdles, men's 800m, women's 5000m, women's high jump, and men's triple jump. The men's 400m relay is the last event, scheduled for 10:25 PM.

World No. 1 women's singles badminton player An Se-young begins her quest for an individual gold medal following the team event. She will face Pu Yi Chi from Macau, ranked 344th in the world, in the round of 32 at 11 AM. Kim Ga-eun will also play her round of 32 match at 12:20 PM. Men's team members Jeon Hyuk-jin and Lee Yoon-gyu will play their round of 32 matches at 1 PM and 5:40 PM, respectively.

Archery will hold individual quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

In the women's compound team, Oh Yoo-hyun will compete in the individual quarterfinal at 10:20 AM, and So Chae-won at 10:40 AM. In the men's compound team, Joo Jae-hoon and Yang Jae-won will compete in the individual quarterfinals at 11 AM and 12 PM, respectively. Winners will immediately proceed to the semifinals. The two women's compound semifinals will be held at 12:20 PM and 12:40 PM, and the two men's compound semifinals at 1 PM and 1:20 PM.

The recurve men's and women's individual quarterfinals start at 2 PM. Women's team members Lim Si-hyun and An San will compete at 2 PM and 2:40 PM, respectively. Men's team member Lee Woo-seok's quarterfinal is at 3:20 PM. The two women's recurve semifinals will be held at 4:40 PM and 5 PM, and the two men's recurve semifinals at 5:20 PM and 5:40 PM.

An San of the archery national team draws her bowstring during the women's team recurve round of 16 match at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Fuyang Inhu Sports Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, on the morning of the 2nd.
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The Go national teams are challenging for gold medals in both men's and women's team events. The women's team final is at 10:30 AM, and the men's team final is at 4 PM. Both will face China.

The baseball team, which lost 0-4 to Taiwan the previous day, will play their last group stage match against Thailand at 1 PM.

The women's handball team will face China in the semifinals at 1 PM. Korea finished first in Group A with three wins in three matches, while China advanced to the semifinals as second in Group B with three wins and one loss. The Korean women's handball team is aiming for their third consecutive championship. If they defeat China, they will play the final against the winner of the Japan-Kazakhstan match at 6 PM on the 5th.

The women's hockey team will play their last group stage match against Malaysia at 1:45 PM. Korea currently stands second in Group A with two wins and one draw. They are tied with India at 2 wins and 1 draw but are behind on goal difference. India still has a match against bottom-ranked Hong Kong. Malaysia, Korea's last opponent, is third in Group A with two wins and one loss. The top two teams from Groups A and B advance to the semifinals. The women's hockey team is aiming to reclaim the gold medal for the first time in nine years. They finished fourth at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.

Korea's diving star Woo Ha-ram will once again hunt for a medal in the 3m springboard event. He won silver in the synchronized 3m springboard with Lee Jae-kyung and bronze in the 1m springboard at this competition. Woo aims for the last medal of the event in the 3m springboard. Lee Jae-kyung, who won silver with him in synchronized 3m springboard, will also compete. The preliminaries start at 2 PM, and the finals at 8:30 PM.

Moon Na-yoon and Cho Eun-bi will compete in the women's 10m platform event. The preliminaries start at 11 AM, and the finals at 6:30 PM.

Weightlifting representative Park Joo-hyo will compete in the men's 73kg weightlifting event.