From basketball to baseball and soccer: Ball sports overcome the pressure of "finals against Japan" [Asian Games Recap ②]

*This content was translated by AI.

It was ball sports that led the medal race for the South Korean delegation at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Basketball won medals in all four sub-events, while baseball and soccer achieved the great feats of five consecutive and four consecutive titles, respectively.

Coincidentally, most of these events culminated in "finals against Japan," and it was significant that they secured golden results in those matches. This was an achievement because they overcame the burden of "matches against Japan" played on foreign soil, despite being rival contests.

In particular, men's basketball fired the starting gun for a generational shift centered on Lee Hyun-joong, winning the match against Japan to claim the gold medal. Riding this momentum, the women's team also won the final against Japan after China, raising the Taegukgi to the top of the podium on enemy territory. In 3x3 basketball, the men's team won the gold medal and the women's team took bronze. Basketball produced gold medals in three of its four sub-events.

The national baseball team also decorated its achievement of five consecutive Asian Games titles with a "victory over Japan." Although they faced a crisis by losing 0-5 to Japan, which was composed of amateur players, in the Super Round, they succeeded in taking revenge in the final, securing the gold medal for the fifth time in a row.

Men's soccer, which had been plagued by concerns since its launch last year, also achieved four consecutive titles after a bumpy road. In the match against Japan staged as the final, men's soccer stood atop the podium with a 1-0 victory led by Uhm Ji-seong's winning goal. Most of the players on the baseball and soccer national teams, composed of young athletes, received large-scale military service exemptions, resolving "military service concerns," which had been the biggest obstacle in their careers.

In addition, the women's handball national team, which competed in a full league format, also won its final match against Japan (5 wins, 1 loss), rising to the top with an undefeated record of six wins to claim the gold medal. Thus, South Korean ball sports overcame all the pressure of "matches against Japan" to reach the summit at this tournament. However, following the "golden race" led by basketball and continued by baseball and soccer, South Korean volleyball failed to win any medals in both men's and women's events, suffering a blow to its pride.

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*This content was translated by AI.