South Korea’s seventh- and eighth-place matchups will be against Japan again.
Korea’s men’s basketball team, led by Chu Il-seung, lost 82-89 to Iran on Thursday at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Men’s Basketball 5th-8th place match at Zhejiang University Gymnasium in Guangzhou, China. With the loss, Korea secured its lowest-ever Asian Games 현금홀덤사이트 finish. The previous best was fifth place at the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
Korea’s final opponent will be Japan. Korea will face Japan in the 7th-8th place match at 1 p.m. (KST) on June 6 at Zhejiang University Gymnasium. Japan suffered a 74-79 upset loss to Saudi Arabia in the 5th-8th place game on Thursday. Japan’s vaunted three-point shooting was mediocre at 31% (13-of-42), and the Saudis outrebounded them 50-29.
South Korea lost to Japan 77-83 in the third game of the group stage. As a result of losing the group lead to Japan, South Korea was pushed to the quarterfinals, where they met China and lost 70-84. In the final game of the tournament, Korea will face Japan, the team responsible for their worst Asian Games performance.
South Korea lost center Ha Yun-ki to a right ankle injury against Iran. His condition is still unknown. If Ha is unable to play, South Korea will have to play with 11 players against Japan. Japan is a three-man squad that is missing all 25 of its World Cup reserves. Can South Korea salvage one last bit of pride?
Meanwhile, China, the favorite to win the gold medal at home, fell to the Philippines 77-76 in the quarterfinals. The Philippines will face Jordan, who defeated Chinese Taipei 90-71, in the final for the gold medal.
China had an 11-point lead with three minutes left in the fourth quarter and was confident of victory. But a lapse in defense proved costly. A steal by naturalized player Angelo Kuame and a five-point run by fellow naturalized player Justin Brownlee changed the momentum. Brownlee’s three-pointer with 24 seconds left in regulation gave the Philippines a 77-76 lead. China lost when Zhang Jianlin’s last shot missed.
The Chinese, who had taken the gold medal for granted, were devastated. Even Yao Ming, the president of the Chinese Basketball Association, who was watching from behind the basket, had an incredulous look on his face. The Filipinos celebrated like they had just won the Olympics.