(Asiad) Japan-born basketball player for S. Korea ready to show growth before family, friends

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- Playing at an Asian Games is a special occasion for many athletes, but this year's competition carries extra meaning for the South Korean women's basketball forward Hong Yu-sun.

The 21-year-old was born to South Korean parents in Osaka, some 140 kilometers west of the main Asian Games host city of Nagoya, and stayed there through her high school years.

Hong dropped out of a college in Osaka to enter the draft for the Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) and went first overall before the 2024-25 season. She lived up to the hype by winning the Rookie of the Year award, while becoming the first rookie in WKBL history to record four consecutive double-doubles.

She now finds herself wearing the South Korean flag in her first Asian Games.

"When I play in Korea, many of my friends and family can't come to see me. But now that I am in Japan, a lot of people have already told me they will come and cheer me on," Hong said Friday after helping South Korea beat Malaysia 106-40 in their first Group C game at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya. Hong led the team with 12 rebounds and chipped in nine points.

"I want to be able to show them how much I have grown since high school," Hong added. "I don't know how many minutes I will get to play at the tournament. But whenever I am on the floor, I will give my best and battle hard in the post."

Hong said her mother did not make it to Friday's game, which began at 10 a.m., but will be in Nagoya starting South Korea's second game, against Mongolia on Monday, along with about a dozen relatives.

"I have had a lot of friends reach out," said Hong, who attended a middle school for students of Korean descent. "They all told me they wanted to come see me play and congratulated me."

Hong said she would love to face Japan in the knockout stage in Nagoya. Japan is favored to make the quarterfinals out of Group B.

"The Japanese team has players that I have been following for a long time, and some of them are around my age," she said. "If I had stayed put in Japan, I would not have had an opportunity like this. After I moved to Korea, I became a much better player and made the national team. I am really excited, and I really hope I can play better against Japan."