Two Koreas to compete for bronze in women's basketball
South Korean players in black jerseys and North Korean players greet each other before the teams' Group C game in the women's basketball tournament of the Asian Games at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, Sept. 29. Yonhap
South Korea and North Korea will clash in women's basketball for a bronze medal Thursday at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games for the first time in Asiad history, with the women's handball team competing for its third consecutive gold against Japan.
The all-Korean bronze medal match for the women's basketball will take place at 4 p.m. on Thursday at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
It will be the first time that South and North Koreas compete for a medal in basketball at any Asian Games.
The previous preliminary round match Friday ended in the South's 81-62 victory.
South Korea's female handball players will take on Japan in the hunt for their third consecutive Asian Games title at 5 p.m. at Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre in Hangzhou.
South Korea has dominated the sport at the Asian Games since 1990, when women's handball became an official medal sport, with seven gold medals and one bronze medal.
Another South Korea-Japan meeting was set up in baseball. South Korea, which finished second in Group B after a loss to Chinese Taipei, will have its first second-stage Super Round game with Japan.
In women's volleyball, South Korea will take on North Korea in a qualification Pool E match. It is the first inter-Korean match in the sport since a regional round for the world championship in 2017. South Korea leads the head-to-head record 7-2.
Lee Mi-gyeong of South Korea, center, attempts a shot against China in the semifinals of women's handball at the Asian Games at Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China, Oct. 3. Yonhap
South Korea, which lost to Vietnam in its first preliminary round, is desperate to win the game to get a berth for the semifinals. Otherwise, it will leave China empty-handed for the first time since 2006.
Weightlifter Kim Su-hyeon, who finished third in the 2022 world championships, will contend for her first Asian Games title in the women's 76kg event. She has finished fourth in the 69kg class in the 2014 and 2018 Asiads.
If she wins, she will become the first Korean Asian Games gold medalist after Jang Mi-ran, who won the super heavyweight +75kg class in 2010.
In archery, South Korean archers will vie for gold in the men's and women's team compound events Thursday. (Yonhap)