The Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games is one day away from its closing day (Aug. 8). Day 7 could be a “golden day” for the Korean athletes. They could win up to 15 gold medals. Having already delivered gold in swimming and fencing, South Korea will make a final push in archery, badminton, soccer, baseball and other ball sports, as well as breaking and softball. A good showing on the seventh day will be crucial if South Korea is to reach its pre-tournament goal of 50 gold medals.
On July 7, the pomun will open with the individual archery competition in the traditional filial sport. Starting with So Chae-won (26, Hyundai Mobis) in the women’s compound final at 10 a.m., the day will include the men’s compound bronze medal match, the women’s recurve final, and the men’s recurve bronze medal match. In particular, the women’s recurve final will be contested by Lim Im-hyun (20-Korea Gymnastics University) and An An (22-Gwangju Women’s University).
Archery’s momentum will be followed by badminton. South Korea’s giraffe of badminton, world No. 1 Ahn Se-young (21-Samsung Life), will attempt to become the first Korean woman to win the women’s singles title in 29 years since Suh Bang-hyun (51) at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games. The world No. 15 men’s doubles pair of Choi Sol Kyu (28-Yonex) and Kim Won Ho (24-Samsung Life) will also be looking for their first gold medal at this edition of the men’s badminton tournament after defeating Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions Chinese Taipei to reach the final.
In the evening, baseball and soccer will play their final games. The baseball team, led by Liu Zhong-il, 60, lost 0-4 to Chinese Taipei in the group stage, but went on to defeat Japan and China 2-0 and 8-1 in the Super Round (final round), respectively, to set up a meeting with the Chinese Taipei in the final. They will look to upset the Chinese Taipei at 7 p.m. and win their fourth straight Asian Games title. The Chinese Taipei will be looking to end their recent three-match losing streak against Chinese Taipei, which began in the group stage of the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. At 9 p.m., the national soccer team, led by Hwang Sun-hong (55), will face Japan in the final. With six unbeaten games in the group stage, Hwang’s offense and defense have been more coordinated than expected. “We have to win regardless of the reason,” Hwang said before the match against Japan. He will be counting on Jung Woo-young (24-Stuttgart), who leads the tournament with seven goals, and ace Lee Kang-in (22-Paris Saint-Germain).
After soccer, basketball and volleyball, handball has failed to conquer the top spot, leaving hockey as the only other women’s sport. The women’s hockey team, coached by 먹튀검증 Han Jin-soo (58), will take on hosts China at 7:30 p.m. in search of their first top spot at an Asian Games in nine years. They beat Japan in a shootout after a 2-2 tie in the semifinals on Friday. China swept India 4-0 in the final.
Breaking, a new event at the Games, will also be looking for a golden finale with world No. 7 Kim Heon-woo (36, Active Name Wing) and No. 14 Jeon Jeon-ye (24, Freshbella). Weightlifter Park Hye-jung and jiu-jitsu’s Sung Ki-ra are other notable contenders.