Korea looks to shine as Asian Games begins this weekend

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Published: 22 Sep. 2023, 10:28 Updated: 22 Sep. 2023, 10:32

Korea looks to shine as Asian Games begins this weekend

Members of the Korean delegation attend a welcoming ceremony at the Hangzhou Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Wednesday. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The Hangzhou Asian Games officially starts in Hangzhou, China on Saturday, kicking off two intense weeks of competition as the continent’s biggest sporting event returns from an extended hiatus.

The Hangzhou Games — officially the 2022 event, but delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic — starts with an Opening Ceremony at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium on Saturday evening. Chinese President Xi Jinping will be in attendance, alongside King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and a host of other politicians and dignitaries.

Then it’s on to the good stuff. The Asian Games proper begins Sunday with a wide range of medals immediately on the line in sports ranging from swimming and rowing to modern pentathlon and shooting. That frenzied pace continues for the following two weeks as organizers desperately try to cram 40 distinct sports into a short period of times.

Inevitably, there is some overflow. Some team sports have had to start a bit early: Korea already beat Kuwait 9-0 in their first men’s football game and lost 3-2 to India in their first men’s volleyball game, as of press time Thursday.

Korea's Heo Su-bong, right, attacks during a Hangzhou Asian Games volleyball game against India at Linping Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on Wedensday. [YONHAP]

Korea is competing in 39 of the 40 sports contested at the Games, sending a record 1,140 athletes and officials to China as the country aims to win 40 to 50 medals and take third place on the table behind China and Japan.

One sport Korea is determined to make an impact in is Esports, which joins the Games as a medal event for the first time this year. Korea rightfully expects to emerge as an Esports powerhouse, although the team is likely to face some fierce competition from Chinese athletes.

Breakdancing is another new addition in which Korea hopes to do well, although breakdancers from Japan and a number of Southeast Asian countries could also be favorites in the new event.

While the Asian Games is viewed with varying levels of interest across Asia, in Korea the stakes are especially high for male athletes.

The Asian Games is one of the only events where Korean athletes can earn an exemption from mandatory military exemption by bringing home a gold medal. For many athletes, particularly those in team sports like football, that could mean the difference between an uninterrupted international career and decades of missed opportunities as contracts fall flat with military service looking in the future.

Jeong Woo-yeong celebrates after scoring the opening goal for Korea in an Asian Games Group E game against Kuwait at the Jinhua Sports Centre Stadium in Jinhua, China on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

In team sports, Korea arrives in Hangzhou with three team sports gold medals to defend from the 2018 Games — men’s football, men’s baseball and women’s handball. The men’s kabaddi and volleyball teams also took silver at the last games, with the women’s football and volleyball and men’s basketball, handball and rugby sevens teams taking bronze.

The first medals on the line next week will be the rowing men’s double sculls final, set to begin at 10 a.m. The entire schedule ends with the karate women’s -50-kilogram kumite final and artistic swimming team events on Sunday, Oct. 8, with the Closing Ceremony following later that evening.

Here's every sport you can look out for at the Hangzhou Asiad.

Archery

Archers choose between two bows for their shot at gold: Recurve, the traditional kind, and compound, the modern device.

Aquatics

Anything in water: Swimming, artistic swimming, marathon swimming, diving and water polo.

Athletics

All the running, jumping, hurdling, throwing, vaulting and walking events on and around the 400-meter track.

Badminton

A back and forth rally with a birdie. First side to 21 wins the match.

Baseball/Softball

Two teams alternate between batting and fielding over nine (baseball) or seven (softball) innings. The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins.

Basketball

Two separate events at the Asiad: The classic 5x5 and the grungy, street-style 3x3, which is played on a half court where the first side to 21 points win.

Korean artistic gymnastics greet Asian Games mascot Chenchen at the Athletes' Village in Hangzhou, China on Thursday. [NEWS1]

Boxing

A boxer wins the match when they pin down their opponent for more than 10 seconds.

Breakdancing

Drop a beat and get ready for a show — breakdancers will battle it out at the Asian Games for the first time ever as the sport makes its debut.

Canoe/Kayak

In slalom, athletes guide their canoes or kayaks through flags on a roughwater course. In the sprint, boats race on a flatwater course of 200 meters, 500 meters or 1,000 meters.

Cricket

Two teams of 11 play on an oval-shaped field with a rectangular “pitch” in the middle on which the ball is thrown to the batter.

Cycling

Includes four medal events: BMX racing, mountain bike, road and track. Indoor and outdoor races on courses of varying difficulty.

Dragon Boat

Another one that’s unique to the Asian Games: These long, narrow boats don dragon heads and tails as crews of 10 to 50 row the course in a nod to their ancient Chinese origins. Each boat, now built with carbon fiber, is also required to tow a large drum.

Equestrian

Riders and their horses compete in three events — the uber-technical dressage, multi-day eventing and jumping. Eventing takes place over four days in phases of dressage, cross country and jumping.

Fencing

En garde! Athletes face-off one-on-one in three weapons categories: Épée, foil and sabre.

Football

Teams of 11 play on a regulation-size field with goals on either side. Men’s teams now have an age limit of 24 (up one year since the games were postponed) and each team is allowed three overage players. Korea is the reigning men’s champion.

Golf

Both professional and amateur players will be allowed to compete in this year’s Asian Games, on an 18-hole course.

Korean gymnast Jeon Yo-seop trains at the Huanglong Sports Center Gymnastics Stadium in Hangzhou, China on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Gymnastics

Artistic, rhythmic and trampoline gymnastics are each medal events. Rhythmic gymnasts perform with rings and ribbons, and trampoliners do their routines while bouncing on a large trampoline.

Handball

Using a scoring system similar to football, players cannot touch the ball with any part of the body below the knee.

Hockey

Classic ball and stick game played on a grass field in teams of 11.

Judo

In this Japanese martial art derived from ju-jitsu, athletes aim to throw their opponent to the ground, flat on their back, or pin them down.

Kabaddi

In teams of seven, single players “raid” the opposite court and tag as many opponents as possible. while chanting “KABADDI! KABADDI! KABBADI!” — without getting tackled before returning to their own side.

Martial arts

Umbrellas ju-jitsu, karate and kurash. There’s punching and kicking in each of these disciplines. In Kurash, the Uzbek national sport, wrestlers use towels to throw their opponent to the floor.

Mind sports

Pushing the definition of “sport” to the limit, bridge, chess, Esports, Go and xiangqi are each medal events. May the sportiest mind win.

Modern Pentathlon

Includes épée fencing, horse jumping, pistol shooting, a 3-kilometer cross country run and a 200-meter freestyle swim.

Korea's Lee Ji-hoon, left, competes in a fencing ranking match as part of the modern pentathlon competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Roller Skating

Like ice skating but without the ice, events include speed skating — in a slalom course and sprint — as well as freestyle and artistic.

Rowing

Rowers compete in long boats alone, in doubles and in groups of four and eight.

Rugby

Competing in teams of seven in the Asian Games, players form scrums and push against their opponents to get the ball to the other side.

Sailing

Athletes race different kinds of boats, from dinghies to skiffs, in open water on a set course. Windsurfing is also a category.

Sepaktakraw

Think of it as kick volleyball. Players use their feet — and knees, shoulders, head and chest — to kick a rattan ball over the net. Teams in Hangzhou will play in threes (“Regu”) and fours (“Quadrant”) on a badminton-style court.

Shooting

The aim is to hit the target in each of the categories: Rifle, shotgun and pistol.

Sport Climbing

Climbers compete for speed and for height, both individually and on a relay team.

Squash

A player wins a rally if their opponent fails to hit the ball before it bounces twice. Athletes compete as singles and doubles.

Table Tennis

Playing individually or in a team of two, the first side to score 11 points wins the match.

Taekwondo

Athletes are divided into weight categories, and rely on kicks and punches to defeat their opponent.

Tennis/Soft tennis

The classic racket sport, played individually or in doubles. Soft tennis is tennis, but softer and with smaller rackets.

Triathlon

The three legs of the race are a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride and a 10-kilometer run.

Volleyball/Beach volleyball

In volleyball, the first six-person team to 25 points with at least a two-point victory margin wins the match. In beach volleyball, teams of two play on a sand court – and the first side to 21 points wins.

Weightlifting

Athletes are divided into categories by weight and whoever lifts the most wins.

Wrestling

Athletes spar in either the “Greco-Roman” or freestyle category. Freestyle wrestling allows leg attacks, while Greco-Roman does not.

Wushu

Players are slotted into weight groups in each of the five Chinese martial arts: Sanda, Changquan, Taijiquan/Taijijian, Nanquan/Nandao and Daoshu/Gunshu.

BY JIM BULLEY AND MARY YANG [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]