(Asiad) S. Korea to start gold medal campaign on 1st day of medal events
NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is set to begin its gold medal campaign in earnest Sunday as the medal race at the 20th Asian Games got underway in Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture.
With 1,051 athletes and officials in action, South Korea is targeting up to 45 gold medals and a third-place finish in the medal table, behind China and Japan.
The first gold could come from the women's modern pentathlon.
South Korea's Seong Seung-min performs during obstacle course racing in the semifinals of women's modern pentathlon at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Anjo Sports Park in Anjo, just southeast of the main host city of Nagoya, Japan, in this Sept. 1, 2026, file photo. (Yonhap)
Seong Seung-min, who helped South Korea win bronze in the women's team event in the previous Asian Games, won the 2024 World Modern Pentathlon Championships to become the first South Korean woman to win a world title in the event. At the Paris Summer Olympics later that year, she became the first Asian female pentathlete to win an Olympic medal.
Three other South Korean pentathletes -- Kim Un-ju, Shin Su-min and Jang Ha-eun -- will also compete in the 18-athlete final.
Male pentathletes will take the field later Sunday, with reigning Asian Games champion Jun Woong-tae going for his third straight individual gold medal and second team gold alongside Seo Chang-wan, Lee Jong-hyeon and Kim Young-ha.
Women shooters will shoot for the country's second gold in women's 10m air rifle individual and team events.
Reigning Olympic champion Ban Hyo-jin is spearheading the gold-medal campaign as the South Korean shooting squad targets five gold medals in Nagoya.
In teqball, a newly introduced sport at this year's Asian Games, Lee Jun-suk will play against Ali Jalil Mezher Alelayawi of Iraq in the men's singles final to become the first South Korean medalist in the sport combining elements of football, table tennis and freestyle skills.
South Korean players celebrate after beating Iran 77-51 in the semifinals of the men's basketball tournament at the Asian Games at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan. (Yonhap)
Men's and women's soft tennis team will try to improve on their performances this time, following bronze medals in each event three years ago.
Swimmer Hwang Sun-woo will enter his first event, the men's 100-meter freestyle, on Sunday, along with Kim Young-beom, who broke Hwang's Korean record in the discipline in a national competition last year.
Men's basketball will pursue its first gold in 12 years against host Japan.
Clinching the top seed out of Group A with two wins, South Korea beat Jordan in the quarterfinals and Iran in the semifinals in matches played before the Games officially opened.
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