Women's Basketball Head Coach Park Su-ho After 66-Point Landslide Win: "Focusing on Condition Recovery"

Following a landslide victory over Malaysia by a 66-point margin in their opening match of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, South Korea women's basketball national team head coach Park Su-ho emphasized condition recovery, noting that the team is still fatigued from their trip to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup.

Speaking at a press conference after the Group C preliminary match 1st leg held at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, today (the 18th), Coach Park stated, "Since the players came straight to Nagoya after returning from the World Cup, they haven't fully shaken off their travel fatigue and jet lag. Today, we aimed to play a game that focused as much as possible on recovering the players' physical conditions."

The women's basketball national team kicked off the tournament on a high note by defeating Malaysia 106-40, an overwhelming 66-point difference.

Malaysia ranks 83rd in the FIBA rankings, significantly lower than South Korea (14th), and has a minimal presence on the international stage, having qualified for the Asian Games women's basketball for the first time in 24 years since the 2002 Busan Games.

For South Korea, which is challenging for a gold medal for the first time in 14 years, Malaysia was an opponent against which a blowout victory could be expected.

The national team participated in the FIBA World Cup held in Germany, returned to South Korea on the 11th, and then arrived in Nagoya on the evening of the 15th.

Perhaps due to not yet fully recovering their physical condition after the travels, South Korea engaged in an unexpected tight contest with Malaysia amid early field-goal struggles, before shots began falling in the latter half of the first quarter to widen the gap.

Coach Park assessed, "The players' bodies felt a bit heavy, and there were various difficulties. It was something we anticipated, as our players tend not to start their first games smoothly. Still, I'm glad the players finished it well."

On this day, Coach Park evenly distributed playing time by having two groups of five players split each quarter.

Except for shooter Kang Isul (Woori Bank), who sat out for management purposes due to a minor foot issue, all 10 players logged between 18 and 20 minutes.

Coach Park explained, "Considering the stages after the group stage, stamina management is necessary from now on. Since we have 11 players, it's even more essential. We operated that way for time-distribution purposes."

This national team is competing in the tournament with 11 players instead of filling the final 12-man roster, as Park Ji-hyun (Los Angeles Sparks) was previously slated to be absent due to WNBA activities, and "pillar" Park Ji-su (KB) also failed to join due to recovery from an injury.

Coach Park stated, "While Park Ji-su and Park Ji-hyun are players who can contribute a lot to our team, we trained without leaning toward any single player. Having trained extensively and played evaluation matches without those players, our members are working hard without being overly shaken."

The national team will continue their group stage matches against Mongolia on the 21st and Taiwan on the 22nd.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.