[Official] 'Another changed Korean national team': An Young-jun sidelined with ankle surgery... 'Son of Kang Dong-hee' Kang Sung-wook joins

*This content was translated by AI.

Another player has left the Korean men's basketball national team. This time, forward An Young-jun (31, Seoul SK) has been excluded from the Lee (CEO) team roster.

The Korea Basketball Association announced on the 28th that it has made additional changes to the 16th-player training roster selected for the upcoming 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asia Qualifiers Round 1, games 5 and 6 in July.

According to the Basketball Association, An Young-jun, who was originally on the training roster, will undergo ankle surgery and has been removed from the list. Based on the submitted medical records, the Adult Male Performance Improvement Committee was convened, and Kang Sung-wook (KT) was selected as his replacement.

Kang Sung-wook, who was newly selected, was drafted 8th overall in the 2025-2026 rookie draft by KT and made his professional debut. He has consistently delivered strong performances for his team, backed by his exceptional activity level.

In the 2025-2026 regular season, Kang Sung-wook averaged 11.3 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 38 games. Also well-known as the son of former Wonju DB head coach Kang Dong-hee, Kang Sung-wook was selected for the national team for the first time through this call-up.

The Basketball Association stated, "Kang Sung-wook has been selected for the Yeon Ryeong-byeol (CEO) team and has demonstrated stable game management and energetic play, so Coach Nicholas Mazzola is expected to inject new energy into the Lee Kkeu-neun (CEO) team."

Previously, the national team had replaced injured players Heo Hoon and Song Gyo-chang (both from Busan KCC) with Moon Jung-hyun (Suwon KT) and Park Ji-hoon (Anyang Jeonggwanjang).

The Han Pyeon (CEO) team will play games 5 and 6 of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asia Qualifiers Round 1 in July. The matches will be held at Goyang Sono Arena on July 3 and 6, with South Korea facing Taiwan in game 5 and Japan in game 6.

The national team squad will assemble on the 1st of next month to begin intensive training. Following a technical meeting, the final 12-player roster will be confirmed.

In this Round 1 of the Asia Qualifiers, the top three teams in each group will advance to Round 2. South Korea must reach Round 2 to maintain its chances of qualifying for the 2025 FIBA Basketball World Cup finals, which will be held in Qatar next year. Excluding host nation Qatar, a total of seven spots are allocated for the finals across the Asia-Oceania region.

South Korea currently holds a 2-2 record, sitting in second place in Group B behind Japan (3-1). While South Korea secured consecutive wins against China in games 1 and 2, it lost both game 3 against Taiwan and game 4 against Japan under Coach Nicholas Mazzola. The team aims for revenge against Taiwan and Japan in the upcoming games 5 and 6.

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*This content was translated by AI.