The South Korean women’s basketball team captured the bronze medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in a “return match” against North Korea.

The South Korean women’s basketball team, led by Chung Sun-min, defeated North Korea 93-63 in the women’s basketball bronze medal game on Friday at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.

After falling 58-81 in the semifinals against Japan two days earlier to miss out on a spot in the finals and be pushed to the bronze medal game, South Korea reunited with North Korea, which they had defeated 81-62 in a group stage match on March 29, to claim another victory and leave behind the “beauty of Yujong” with the bronze medal.

It was the fourth consecutive Asian Games appearance for South Korea’s women’s basketball team, which won silver in Guangzhou in 2010, gold in Incheon in 2014 and silver with North Korea as a single team at Jakarta-Palembang in 2018.

North Korea’s women’s basketball team had to settle for a fourth-place finish (1974-1982-2022), its highest-ever finish in Asian Games women’s basketball outside of a single North-South team in Jakarta.

South Korea, playing North Korea for a medal for the first time in women’s basketball at the Asian Games, which began in 1974, fell behind 15-21 in the first quarter after giving up eight points to North Korea’s 2003-born 205-centimeter center Park Jin-ah.

Park, who started the game after missing the quarterfinal against China on March 3, played through some leg discomfort and scored solidly under the basket, while Kim Yoo-jung and Hong Ryeon-ah’s outside shooting helped North Korea take control of the game.

South Korea countered with the duo of Park Ji-soo and Kang Yi-eul (KB), but the scoring was heavily weighted toward them, and Park Ji-hyun (Woori Bank), who was supposed to be a teammate, struggled with three fouls in the first quarter alone.

However, Park Ji-soo’s spurt in the second quarter, coupled with a three-pointer from veteran Lee Kyung-eun (Shinhan Bank) about four minutes before the end of the half, put South Korea on a 30-27 run and they went into halftime with a slight 40-33 lead. Park finished with 19 points and six rebounds in the first half.

North Korea started the second half with a flurry of points either directly from Park or derived from her to tie the score at 40-40, but South Korea scored a whopping 19 straight points to pull away at 42-42.

‘Captain’ Kim Dan-bi (Woori Bank) led the charge, scoring 13 points in the third quarter alone, including three three-pointers.

Lee So-hee (BNK) scored the first points of the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to make it a 20-point game, 64-44, and Korea never looked back.

Park Ji-soo finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Kim Dan-bi had a “double-double” with 21 points and six rebounds.

For North Korea, Park Jin-ah had 27 points and nine rebounds, while captain Roh Sook-young, a member of the single-team in Jakarta, had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

In the final, China defeated Japan in a close game, 74-72, to win their second straight title.

China looked to be cruising to victory in the second quarter, jumping out to a 35-18 lead.

However, Japan made a furious 토토사이트 comeback in the closing minutes of the second quarter and tied the game at 65-65 with just over three minutes left in regulation.

China took a 74-72 lead with nine seconds left when Wang Tsuyu’s three-pointer went through the rim.

The ensuing Japanese offense fell short and China held on for the gold medal.

China won its second consecutive women’s basketball title in Jakarta-Palembang.

Japan’s performance was its best since Bangkok 1998, when it won the title.