South Korea was knocked out of medal contention in men’s basketball at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games on Tuesday, following a crushing defeat by China in the quarters.
In the match at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, South Korea lost 84-70 to the host country, Yonhap reported.
It is the first time in 17 years that South Korea leaves the quadrennial continental sports competition without a medal.
The country has made podium finishes at every Asiad since 2010, when it lost to China in the final and earned silver.
South Korea’s basketball won the Asian Games title in 2014 and bronze in 2018.
Forward Yang Hong-seok scored 13 points on four-of-seven shooting, including three three-point shots, and naturalized starting center Ra Gun-a, born Ricardo Ratliffe in the United States, chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds.
After scoring the first basket of the game to go up 2-0, South Korea never led again the rest of the way.
It lost the first quarter 20-13 on China’s two three-point shots. In the next 10 minutes, South Korea fell behind by 20 points to end the quarter at 50-30.
In the third and fourth quarters, South Korea struggled to keep up with its opponent due to poor shooting and let the game finish at 84-70.
Head coach Choo Il-seung showed his dissatisfaction with the team’s “humiliating” loss in the quarters.
“I’m so sorry for failing to achieve our goal to get the gold medal. And this is a humiliating competition for me,” he said in a post-match press conference. “But my players did their best despite some difficulties.”
He said South Korean players, who were exhausted from a late qualification match on the previous day, could not overcome the towering Chinese team.
“We were outperformed by the Chinese in all areas, and our players were exhausted due to the tight schedule,” he said. “We lost the rhythm from the first quarter.”
Source: Bahrain News Agency