Chung Sun-min
Head coach of the Korean women’s basketball team, talks to the media after the women’s basketball
qualification game against Thailand in Group C of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on Sunday.
South Korean women’s basketball team coach Chung Sun-min
49, expressed disappointment with her team’s first win at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, but hoped it
would be good medicine ahead of a showdown with feisty North Korea.
Chung’s team thrashed Thailand 90-56 in the first game of Group C of the women’s basketball
preliminary round on Sunday at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
The team made 14 three-pointers in the first quarter and cruised to a comfortable victory. Five players
scored in double figures, including Kang Isul (18 points), Park Ji-soo (16 points), Park Ji-hyun, Lee Hae-ran, and Lee So-hee (12 points).
However, there were some disappointments. The team shot just 40 percent from two-point range (21 of
51 attempts) and only made half of their free throws.
After the game, Coach Jung said, “Today’s game was not about winning or losing because we had a big
power difference with Thailand. We focused on the content of the game, and it was not a good game.
Women’s basketball always struggles in the first game (of an international tournament), and I’m not
satisfied with that (repeating).” “The only thing to be satisfied with is that we had 12 players on the court,” she sighed.
“Our shooting percentage was too low. It started with the top five guys, so it’s affecting the bench guys. We’re missing easy shots (that we should be making). That’s not acceptable for a national team player.”
Women’s basketball
Was introduced at the Asian Games in 1974 in Tehran, and South Korea hasn’t missed a medal except in Doha in 2006 (fourth place). It reached the podium in Incheon in 2014, and at Jakarta-Palembang in 2018, the team won silver with a unified North-South team.
For the Hangzhou Games
Chung is aiming high. “We can’t just rely on our top five players to play all the way to the final. The bench members must take responsibility for their roles. We need to improve our defense, rebounding, and concentration,” he said. “As a coach, I also need to manage the players’ mentality well.”
The team’s next opponent is North Korea, a team they played against five years ago. Players from both teams went from comrades to enemies.
In their first game of the tournament, North Korea showed off their full power in a 91-77 victory over Chinese Taipei, with 5-foot-5 big man Park Jin-ah scoring a whopping 51 points.
“North Korea played very well against Taiwan and scored a lot of points,” said Chung. I heard that Park Jin-ah also scored 51 points.” “We didn’t have any information about the North Korean national team, so today’s game gave us a good idea of their power. We need to analyze them carefully from today. The players should also change their minds about the North Korean team and have a sense of urgency.”
The underdog status of the first game may have dampened interest in Chung’s team, but the second game could be much more interesting as it will be a North-South showdown.
“I know that the public is very interested in the North-South confrontation. “We didn’t play well today, but I hope it will be ‘good medicine,'” he said. We will put our best foot forward and finish the game well.”
The women’s basketball North-South matchup will take place at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 29 at the same venue. 19가이드03