JAKARTA: A joint Korean women’s basketball team recorded their first loss at the Asian Games on Friday but their coach insisted the players have put aside their national identities and are determined to win as a united squad.
A 200-strong army of Korean fans — sporting T-shirts bearing the unified Korean flag and the slogan “One dream, one Corea” — cheered on the team, fresh from a thunderous win against hosts Indonesia on Wednesday.
But the drums and chants were in the end not enough and the team went down to Taiwan 87-85 in their second league encounter.Nevertheless, Korea’s assistant coach Ha Sook-rye told AFP there is a feeling of togetherness among the players.
“Everything is fine and we have a really good team,” she said in response to a question on how the North and South players get along.“I don’t know what people feel but it is one team and we never think about North or South Korea.”
The hard-fought encounter saw the Koreans get off to a winning start in the first quarter but Taiwan quickly bounced back. North Korean Ro Suk Yong, one of three Pyongyang-based players, was once again the team’s top-scorer with 32 points, after bagging 22 against Indonesia.
Korea will play India next on Monday.Kyungeun Lee, a 19-year-old fan from South Korea, told AFP that “it feels so good to be watching our sport as one country”. “I don’t find any difference while cheering for South Korea or United Korea,” she added with a smile.
Fellow fan Junyoung Park, a 20-year-old student from South Korea, told AFP he was disappointed but he still had high hopes for the tournament “as our unified team is more stronger”.
South Korea are the defending champions in women’s basketball, defeating China on home turf at the Incheon Games in 2014.North and South Korea are also fielding united teams in canoeing and rowing at the Asian Games in the latest sign of thawing relations on the troubled peninsula.
Meanwhile, Son Heung-min’s hopes of avoiding military service by securing gold suffered a blow as South Korea were stunned 2-1 by minnows Malaysia.The Tottenham Hotspur forward came off the bench just before the hour-mark but couldn’t help the defending champions overturn a two-goal deficit, after Safawi Rasid’s first-half double for 171st-ranked Malaysia.
Son is skipping Premier League action for the regional Olympics, where victory would mean an exemption from South Korea’s 21 months of military service.Son, 26, was released by Spurs for the tournament, which represents his final chance to avoid nearly two years in military barracks — a serious setback to his career.
South Korea, who thrashed Bahrain 6-0 in their opening match, dominated possession in the second half, particularly after Son’s introduction, but were unable to claw their way back.Japan-based striker Hwang Ui-jo, who is also facing his final chance to avoid military service, pulled one goal back for the Koreans late on.
And Son had a golden chance to equalise with a free-kick just outside the box in the last minute, but he placed it inches wide of the post.Malaysia, 114 places lower than their opponents in the FIFA rankings, were happy to sit deep and play on the break, and frustrated the South Koreans further with frequent stoppages.
Malaysia’s Rasid opened the scoring after just five minutes and he cannoned his second in off the post in first-half injury time. However, South Korea’s hopes remain very much alive as they now require a draw against Kyrgyzstan in their final group clash to reach the knockout stages.
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