[Anchor]

The national League of Legends esports team easily advanced to the finals even without their star player, 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok. The national team will aim for two consecutive gold medals tomorrow (the 2nd) against Taiwan.

Reporter Lee Jeong-Chan has the story.

[Reporter]

Playing in an unfamiliar, early-morning time slot for the second consecutive day and resting their star player 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok for the semifinals against Saudi Arabia, the national team showcased their unwavering teamwork.

Propelled by Zeka, Kim Geon-woo, who stepped in for Lee Sang-hyeok, they relentlessly pressured their opponents and easily secured a 2-0 victory to advance to the finals.

Having reached the finals for three consecutive times starting from the 2018 Jakarta Games where League of Legends was introduced as a demonstration sport, the national team has guaranteed at least a silver medal.

In tomorrow's (the 2nd) final, they will face Taiwan for the second consecutive time, and our players are overflowing with confidence since they achieved a sweeping victory in their first group-stage match.

[Choi Woo-je (Zeus) / Esports National Team: "I think we can win the gold medal, and it would be very proud to win two consecutive gold medals."]

[Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) / Esports National Team: "We will prepare well so that you can enjoy watching."]

---

Sport climber Seo Chae-hyun won the bronze medal in the women's boulder event.

Riding the momentum of being the only climber to pass yesterday's semifinals with a 'perfect score' in boulder, which is not her main event, she successfully topped both the first and second problems without hesitation to raise expectations for gold. However, failing to conquer the highly difficult third and fourth problems, she finished in third place behind the Chinese and Japanese athletes.

Seo Chae-hyun will challenge for the gold medal once again in lead, her main event where she is ranked second in the world.

[Seo Chae-hyun / Sport Climbing National Team: "I think standing on the podium in the boulder event is already a satisfying enough result, and if I perform an even better climb in lead, I will probably be able to collect all the medals."]

---

The men's volleyball national team narrowly lost to defending champions Iran in a full-set thriller during the quarterfinals.

Spearheaded by their twin spikers, Huh Su-bong and Im Dong-hyuk, they led 2-1 up to the third set and seemed poised to pull off a massive upset, but they ultimately failed to overcome the hurdles as they were increasingly overpowered in height and strength.

(Video Editing: Park Jung-sam)