▲ South Korea men's national rugby sevens team
The South Korean men's national rugby sevens team, which aimed to reach the Asian Games final for the second consecutive time, suffered an unfortunate defeat after running into defending champion Hong Kong early in the tournament.
South Korea lost 14-35 to Hong Kong in the semifinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games men's rugby tournament held at the Minato Stadium in Nagoya, Japan, today (October 3), missing out on a spot in the final.
Hong Kong is Asia's top-ranked team, having won consecutive titles at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and the 2022 Hangzhou Games. They were also the team that handed South Korea a defeat in the final of the previous tournament.
In today's match, South Korea finished the first half trailing 0-14.
In the second half, Jang Jeong-min and Lee Moon-gyu each successfully scored tries, bringing in 14 points for a fierce chase, but South Korea could not overcome Hong Kong's formidable offense, conceding a total of five tries.
Having swept the gold medals at the 1998 Bangkok and 2002 Busan Games, South Korean rugby has since had to settle for bronze medals, being pushed back by Hong Kong and Japan.
However, at the previous 2022 Hangzhou Games, the team advanced to the final for the first time in 17 years and captured a valuable silver medal.
Without time to recover from missing out on a ticket to the final, South Korea is set to face Japan, considered one of Asia's two rugby powerhouses, in the third-place match today at 6:10 PM.
Japan was upset by China 7-10 in today's semifinals, dropping them into the bronze medal match.
Having previously lost 14-24 to Japan in the group stage, this match will serve as a redemption opportunity for South Korea to claim a medal and avenge their earlier defeat.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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