The men’s basketball team defeated Bahrain to reach the quarterfinals. But the next opponent is a tough one.
The South Korean men’s basketball team, led by head coach Chu Il-seung, defeated Bahrain 88-73 in the quarterfinals of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at the Zhejiang University Zijinjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China on Tuesday (Feb. 2).
South Korea, which lost its third Group D game against Japan on March 30, slipped to second place in the group with a 2-1 record and failed to qualify for the quarterfinals. This dropped them to the Round of 12, where they faced Bahrain.
Against Bahrain, Korea was led by Ha Yun-ki (Suwon KT), who scored a team-high 16 points, and Yang Hong-seok (Changwon LG), who contributed 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half alone. The performance of these two players allowed the team’s core players, Heo Hoon (Sangmu) and Ra Gun-ah (Busan KCC), to play less than 10 minutes to save their stamina.
Despite the victory, South Korea will now face host China in the quarterfinals on March 3 at 1pm. It will be about 14 hours after their game against Bahrain.
After finishing the first quarter with a 24-20 lead, South Korea ran into some rough basketball from Bahrain in the second quarter. Bahrain committed an unsportsmanlike conduct foul (U-foul) on Byun Joon-hyung’s neck when things weren’t going well, and the two teams briefly had a nervous breakdown. Korea didn’t let the nerves get the best of them, though, and quickly widened the gap as players scored evenly.
Leading 55-36 at halftime, Korea maintained a 20-point lead in the third quarter and took it easy, giving younger players such as Moon Jung-hyun (Suwon KT) a chance. The Bahrainis scored in the final minute of the fourth quarter, but by the time the game went into garbage time, Korea had secured a comfortable victory.
Meanwhile, the South Korean women’s basketball team, led by head coach Chung Sun-min, defeated the Philippines 93-71 in the quarterfinals at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
South Korea, which topped Group C with three straight wins over Thailand, Chinese Taipei and North Korea, advanced to the quarterfinals with a win over the Philippines, which finished second in Group B with a 2-1 record.
Korea was led by Kang Isul (KB Stars) with 15 points, including four three-pointers, while Park Ji-soo (KB Stars), who returned from injury, chipped in with 15 points 메이저사이트 and two rebounds. Park Ji-hyun (Woori Bank) added 14 points and Shin Ji-hyun (Hana OneQ) finished with 12 points.
Their quarterfinal opponent will be Japan, who defeated Indonesia. Japan’s women’s basketball team is also competitive internationally. They will face Japan on March 3 at 9 p.m. for a spot in the final.