South Korea, 4th overall in ParaAG, “Achieved goal but lacked gold”

After a week of challenges, the Hangzhou Para Asian Games concluded on Monday with the closing ceremony.

With 30 gold, 33 silver and 40 bronze medals, South Korea finished fourth in the overall standings behind China (214 gold), Iran (44) and Japan (42).

While the country maintained its fourth-place finish, it was not far behind fifth-place India (29 golds, 31 silvers, 51 bronzes) and fell short of the 39 gold medals expected.

Speaking at the closing press conference at Hangzhou Korea House ahead of the closing ceremony, Korea Para Sports President Chung Jin-wan said, “We did poorly in athletics and swimming, where the top countries won many medals. It was also due to the absence of bowling from the medal field. The gold medals won by the newly adopted sports such as taekwondo and go helped us to secure the fourth place.”

“Personally, I am most impressed with Taekwondo’s Jung Hoon Joo’s gold medal. He made up for the disappointment of losing his first match at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and only winning a bronze medal.”

General Manager Park Jong-chul said, “There were fewer multi-award winners, including two triple winners and four double winners, but it is encouraging that the rookies did well. 43 out of 54 intensive support athletes won prizes. It makes us look forward to the Paris and LA Paralympic Games.”

As for his most memorable athlete, he says, “Suh Soo-yeon of table tennis is impressive. She kept losing to Liu Jing (China) in the final of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, but this time she won the gold medal.”

“The gold medal in wheelchair tennis doubles is memorable. We didn’t expect to win gold. I was surprised to see them play longer rallies than able-bodied tennis despite being in a wheelchair.” “Cycling’s Kim Jung-bin is my personal MVP. He lived outside the athletes’ village and won three gold medals in hot weather. It’s meaningful that he did it with a non-disabled partner.”

Overall, however, there were many sports that fell short of expectations as the team struggled to find new talent and replace old ones.

“In swimming and track and field, there are not enough young athletes and it takes a lot of time to develop them. We need to pick sports that we can do well and focus on them. Archery, table tennis, shooting, and lawn bowls need a generation change.”

“Table tennis won about half of the medals due to China. Lawn bowls did not do as well as expected because they had a year to adapt to the grass. With the exception of the top-ranked China, the performance leveled off.”

“I agree with the need to strengthen international competitiveness. Badminton, shooting, etc. have seen a certain amount of generational change. But sitting volleyball, archery, and lawn bowls are not. We will accelerate the pace of generational change in archery and medal-winning table tennis.”

“We will also strengthen the establishment of unemployed teams, player discovery, and the implementation of the league system. As the domestic athlete base is thin, we should actively encourage them to combine or switch between winter and summer sports. Visual soccer is one of the sports that did not make the cut. It is encouraging that a visual soccer unemployment team will be established soon.”

Regarding rival Japan, Chung said, “I am afraid of their catch-up. They sent 200 athletes to the 2017 Asian Para Sports Games in Dubai. Most of them were athletes in track and field and swimming. Japan has a very fast generation change. Japan focuses on the Paralympics, but the Asian Games are also a place for new athletes to gain experience,” he said.

“I agree 100 percent (with the idea of training with non-disabled coaches). This year, for the first time, we implemented a salary system for coaches and managers of Para national teams. Next year, some staff will be paid in some sports. The better the treatment of national and para-teams, the better the attraction of quality para-playing partners and coaches.”

At the same time, the government aims to deploy 1,200 sports coaches for people with disabilities. According to the plan, 860 are currently active.

Efforts will also be made to attract national attention through TV coverage.

“Athletics, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, badminton, and table tennis were broadcast. It was the first time in the history of the Asian Games that three public broadcasters broadcast together. We will further activate the Internet TV of the Paralympic Games.”

Finally, he said, “This year, the sponsorship amount of the Paralympic Games was 600 million won. I am grateful to all those who helped the Paralympics, including those who have their own businesses, sponsored, and took time out of their busy schedule to come to the site. We will continue to work hard to find a company to chair the event.” 토토사이트