Nagoya: South Korea's Lee Jun-suk emerged victorious in all his matches in the men's singles preliminary round as teqball made its Asian Games debut in central Japan on Thursday. Competing at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center, Lee showcased his skills on the first day of the tournament, held in the northern part of Nagoya.
According to Yonhap News Agency, teqball, a sport invented in Hungary in 2014, combines aspects of football, table tennis, freestyle skills, and sepaktakraw, and is played on a curved table. Players can use any part of their body except their hands and arms to hit the ball. The rules allow a maximum of three touches before returning the ball in singles, while in doubles, teammates must pass the ball at least once. The International Teqball Federation encourages diverse attacking strategies by allowing two smashes per set that can result in the ball leaving the field of play.
Lee, 27, began his campaign with a commanding 2-0 victory over Laos' Alisa Phomsouliya (12-1, 12-0) in the opening Group B match. He continued his winning streak by defeating Prince Agustin from the Philippines 2-0 (12-5, 12-6). Lee further triumphed over Indonesia's Yoga Ardika Putra 2-0 (12-1, 12-3) and Vietnam's Ba Truong Giang 2-0 (12-8, 12-4). In his final group match, Lee secured his undefeated record by beating Akinori Wase of Japan 2-0 (12-5, 12-9).
The singles category included five players in Group A and six players in Group B, with the top four from each group advancing to the quarterfinals set for later Thursday. The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, with the bronze and gold medal matches on Sunday.
Teqball has attracted athletes from football and sepaktakraw backgrounds, with South Korea joining international competitions in 2019. Lee, a former football player, reached the fourth division in South Korea at the age of 21, before transitioning to teqball.