South Korea Wins First Men's Basketball Gold in 12 Years by Defeating Archrival Japan... Lee Hyun-jung Scores 27 Points

[Anchor]

The men's national basketball team has won the gold medal at the Nagoya Asian Games for the first time in 12 years, claiming the top spot in Asia for the 5th time in history.

Here is our first report for today, September 21, by reporter Han Sung-hee.

[Reporter]

Our national team faced an absurd situation ahead of yesterday's final.

They had planned to visit the training facility in the morning to warm up, but had to cancel the session because the assigned vehicle failed to show up without any explanation.

While transportation issues have occasionally occurred during this tournament due to poor management, critics pointed out that the timing of such an incident right before the final against the host country, Japan, felt suspicious.

During the game, Japanese home fans delivered one-sided support, and there were several ambiguous calls where clear fouls by Japan went unpunished, but our players gave it their absolute all.

Lee Hyun-jung grabbed tenacious rebounds, while Lee Jung-hyun dominated both inside and outside, tying the first half at 28-28.

What broke the tight match was ace player Lee Hyun-jung.

He seized control of the game by scoring 13 points in the third quarter alone, including consecutive three-pointers while trailing by a point.

Gaining momentum, the national team continued to push Japan in the fourth quarter. The moment the final buzzer sounded to seal a 67-57 victory, everyone rushed onto the court and hugged each other.

Shedding hot tears and waving the Taegeukgi in enemy territory, they shared the joy of a perfect championship run with 6 wins and 0 losses in the tournament.

[Lee Hyun-jung/National Basketball Team Player: Tears just naturally come out when you win. The feeling of winning is just so great, and I know how hard our teammates fought for that gold medal...] /

This marks the first time reclaiming the top spot at an Asian Games held outside of Korea in 44 years, since the 1982 New Delhi Games.

Having struggled on the global stage for a long time and suffering from a decline in popularity, South Korean men's basketball hopes this gold medal will serve as a turning point.

(Video Journalist: Kim Se-kyung, Video Editor: Lee Jae-sung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.