Gifu: The South Korean men's and women's field hockey teams both celebrated victories in their opening matches at the Asian Games on Friday. The men's team delivered a commanding performance, defeating Bangladesh 5-0 at Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium, situated approximately 30 kilometers north of Nagoya, the main host city. Goals were scored by Sim Jae-won, Lee Gang-san, Oh Se-yong, Bae Soung-min, and Yang Ji-hun, with South Korea netting three goals in the second quarter and adding one in each of the subsequent quarters.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's head coach Min Tae-seok expressed satisfaction with the team's strategic execution. "We saw Bangladesh as a dark horse. We wanted to lock things down defensively in the first quarter," Min stated. "And then we wanted to be more aggressive in the second quarter. And our players scored those goals after making their adjustments to the venue." The match faced a peculiar incident when the North Korean anthem was mistakenly played before the South Korean one. Following a delay and a play of Bangladesh's anthem, the South Korean anthem was finally played, and players from both sides shook hands as instructed by the referee to commence the match.
In the women's match at the same venue, South Korea defeated Chinese Taipei 3-1 in Pool A, led by Park Seung-ae's two goals and another from An Su-jin. At the previous Asian Games in 2023, the South Korean teams had impressive finishes, with the men securing bronze and the women taking silver. The current tournament format divides 12 teams into two groups of six for both men's and women's events, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals.
Looking ahead, the South Korean men's team will face Indonesia at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, while the women will play against Kazakhstan at 9 a.m. on Monday.