Nagoya: South Korea has guaranteed itself at least bronze medals in the men's and women's team events in soft tennis at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday. Both teams reached the semifinals of their events at Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya.
According to Yonhap News Agency, there are no bronze medal matches in soft tennis, meaning both losing teams in the semifinals will receive bronze medals. These soft tennis teams are the first South Korean athletes to secure medals at this year's Asian Games. Both teams are set to compete against Chinese Taipei in the semifinals on Sunday, following the opening ceremony, with the finals also scheduled for the same day.
On Friday, the women's team consisting of Kim Han-sul, Kim Yeon-hwa, Lee Su-jin, Eom Ye-jin, and Hwang Jeong-mi finished second in the group phase behind Japan, securing a spot in the semifinals. South Korea initially lost to Japan 3-0, dropping two doubles and one singles match, but bounced back by defeating Cambodia and Pakistan with identical scores of 3-0.
Meanwhile, the men's team, featuring Kim Hyun-woo, Lee Haneul, Kim Jin-woong, Lee Hyun-gwon, and Park Jae-kyu, claimed victories over Nepal and Indonesia in the group stage on Friday, before triumphing over the Philippines in the quarterfinals.
Soft tennis made its Asian Games debut in 1994, with South Korea leading the all-time medal table with 26 gold, 15 silver, and 20 bronze medals. South Korea has consistently won at least one soft tennis gold in every edition of the Asian Games since 1994.