[Anchor]
A breakout star has emerged in teqball, a new sport introduced for this event that resembles footvolley played on a curved table. Lee Jun-seok, an athlete who gave up his livelihood and staked his entire life on this unfamiliar sport, wrote history by securing an undefeated championship without dropping a single set, bursting into tears of joy.
Jeon Yeongmin reports from the scene.
[Reporter]
Advancing to the final with an unstoppable momentum without conceding a single set throughout the tournament, Lee Jun-seok showcased overwhelming skills against Iraq's Al-Elerayawi in the final match.
He left his opponent helpless with consecutive soft attacks using the side of his foot, and wrapped up the first set with a powerful smash following an exquisite receive.
Continuing to relentlessly pressure his opponent in the second set, Lee completed a 2-0 victory, hugged his teammates, and shed endless tears.
Lee shouted out toward his mother, who believed in him and devoted herself to him as he staked his life on an unpopular sport:
[Mom! I won a gold medal! A gold medal!]
With the gold medal placed around his neck, he shared a warm embrace with his mother and relished the joy.
[You should make a pretty face! (I was never pretty anyway~)]
Clutching her son's gold medal tightly in her hand, his mother was choked with emotion.
[Yoon Soon-jung / Athlete Lee Jun-seok's Mother: He is such a kind and wonderful son who has never caused any trouble. Now that he has found a good stepping stone, I hope he steps on it, gathers strength, and works even harder.]
A former football player who worked as a contract worker at a major corporation while enjoying teqball as a hobby, Lee threw away an opportunity for a regular full-time conversion and handed in his resignation upon hearing that the sport had been adopted as an official Asian Games event. After sweating it out in rented indoor training facilities and accommodations, and enduring poor lodging and meals in Nagoya,
[I wanted to work out in my accommodation too, but it was too small here.]
Lee, who prepared for this very moment, feels like it is a dream to have become the first Asian Games champion in men's singles teqball.
[Lee Jun-seok / National Teqball Athlete: I now truly understand when people say, 'I can't believe it.' It is a moment of happiness so profound that I wonder if there could ever be another moment this happy in my life.]
Emerging as the South Korean delegation's first surprise star of the tournament, Lee has also brilliantly played the role of an evangelist, introducing the once-unfamiliar sport of teqball to the entire nation.
(Photo: Yonhap News) / (Reported by Jeon Yeongmin, Video by Yang Hyun-chul, Video Editing by Choi Hye-ran, Design by Kang Yoon-jung)
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