South beats North for basketball bronze in second Games showdown

Basketball

Published: 05 Oct. 2023, 19:34

South beats North for basketball bronze in second Games showdown

The South Korean women's basketball team celebrates after defeating North Korea to take bronze at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Thursday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The South Korean women’s basketball team took bronze on Thursday, defeating North Korea 93-63 to win the national team’s sole medal in the sport at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

It was the second time the South Korean and North Korean teams faced off at this year’s Asiad. The South Korean team earlier beat North Korea 81-62 in their second game of the tournament.

Men's basketball team crash out of Asian Games after tough quarterfinal draw

North Korea led the scoring early during the bronze-medal match on Thursday, ending the first quarter up six, with 21 points to South Korea’s 15.

South Korea came back in the second quarter, picking up the score to end the first half 40-33.

The North Korean team was unable to mount a comeback, falling further behind during the third and fourth quarters as South Korea closed out the game with a 30-point lead.

South Korea’s top scorers of the night were Park Ji-su and Kim Dan-bi, who bucketed 25 and 21 points respectively.

Both the Thursday and group stage games were among several South-versus-North contests at this year's Asiad, and the match-ups marked a striking departure from the 2018 Games in Jakarta, Indonesia where the two competed as the Korean unified team and took silver.

The South Korean women’s team was earlier denied a chance to defend their 2014 gold-medal title by Japan, who won the semifinal match 81-58 on Tuesday. North Korea suffered a landslide semifinal loss to China, who won that game 100-44.

The Korean men’s basketball team crashed out of the medal race after losing 84-70 to defending champions China during the quarterfinals.

The women’s bronze-medal finish wraps up the national team’s basketball schedule at this year’s Asian Games.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]