The South Korean men’s basketball team packed its bags after losing to China in the quarterfinals of the Hangzhou Asian Games. The advance to the semifinals, which has been natural so far, has been frustrated for the first time in 17 years.
The men’s basketball team, led by head coach Chu Il-seung, lost 70-84 to host China in the men’s basketball quarterfinals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Zhejiang Province on the 3rd.
South Korea lost face in the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2006 Doha Asian Games 17 years ago.
The national team lost 77-83 in the group stage match against Japan on the 30th of last month, failing to advance to the quarterfinals. It will face China, the host country, in 14 hours after the quarterfinals match against Bahrain on the afternoon of the 2nd.
The national team was dragged out of action from the beginning of the game. After losing the first quarter to 13-20, the national team gave up as many as 30 points in the second quarter. Guards such as Lee Woo-suk (Ulsan Hyundai Mobis) and Byun Joon-hyung (Sangmu) were embarrassed by the opponent’s pressure and made mistakes, widening the score gap to 23-46 about a minute before the end of the second quarter.
South Korea, which failed to narrow the gap to within 20 points in the third quarter, narrowed the gap to 13 points with Byun Joon-hyung’s score three minutes before the end of the fourth quarter. However, he was eliminated in vain by allowing a series of outside shots with a clumsy fast-attack defense.