▲ Lee Jun-seok roars in celebration.
Lee Jun-seok (27) has advanced to the final of the men's singles in the emerging sport of teqball, securing at least a silver medal.
Lee secured victory after his opponent suffered an injury during the men's singles semifinal match against Zaid Eidan of Kuwait at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Higashi Sports Center in Nagoya, Japan, today (September 19).
Having secured South Korea's first-ever teqball medal, Lee will now aim for the gold medal in the final scheduled for September 20.
Lee struggled somewhat in the early stages of the first set as if he had not fully warmed up.
He fell behind 0-4 after conceding four consecutive points to Eidan.
However, he induced opponent errors with short serves and scored four straight points to tie the match.
Gaining momentum, Lee widened the gap to 10-6 by playing defensively with exquisite control.
Lee then allowed Eidan to tie it 10-10 after failing to properly block Eidan's relentless attacks, but succeeded in scoring following a long rally due to an opponent error.
Even at 11-10, another rally ensued, and Eidan made an error, allowing Lee to close out the set.
The match came to an end in the second set when Eidan collapsed due to a left thigh injury.
With Lee leading 3-2, Eidan collapsed complaining of pain in his left thigh muscle, causing the match to be suspended.
Although Kuwaiti team officials provided medical attention, Eidan was unable to resume the match, and Lee's victory was finalized.
Lee will face Ali Jalil Mezher Al-Aleyawi (Iraq) for the gold medal on September 20.
Teqball is a sport where players hit a football back and forth across a specially curved table, resembling table tennis played with the feet.
Invented in Hungary in 2012, it gained attention as foreign football players mainly enjoyed it for training purposes.
Each set is won by the first player to reach 12 points, and deuce rules apply only to the third set.
Like volleyball, the ball must be sent over to the opponent's side within three touches, and players cannot touch the ball consecutively with the same body part.
South Korea competed in three events at this tournament: men's singles, men's doubles (Lee Jun-seok and Lee Tae-bin), and mixed doubles (Kim Eun-jun and Jang Eun-seo). Only Lee Jun-seok from the men's singles passed the group stage.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.