South Korea Men's Hockey Narrowly Loses to Malaysia, Falls to Bronze Medal Match

The South Korean men's national field hockey team has narrowly missed out on reaching the Asian Games final for the first time in 20 years.

Led by head coach Min Tae-seok, the national team lost 1-2 to Malaysia in the semifinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Kakamigahara Green Stadium in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, today (October 1).

After a scoreless tie through the second quarter, South Korea conceded the first goal to Malaysia during a penalty corner crisis in the third quarter, but equalized 1-1 with a field goal by Lee Gang-san (Incheon City Sports Council).

However, just before the end of the third quarter, they conceded a goal from a penalty stroke, falling behind once again at 1-2.

The national team sought an equalizer in the fourth quarter, but to no avail.

The last time the South Korean men's hockey team reached the Asian Games final was at the 2006 Doha Games, where they won the gold medal.

Since then, they secured two bronze medals at the 2014 Incheon Games and the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

South Korea will face Pakistan in the bronze medal match at the same venue at 4:30 PM on October 3.

(Photo provided by the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organizing Committee, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.