South Korea aims for ‘4th place overall’ with 30 gold medals in ParaAG China has 214

Celebratory performances take place during the closing ceremony of the Hangzhou 2022 Para Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium on Oct. 28.

South Korean athletes have achieved their goal of fourth place overall at the Hangzhou 2022 ParaAsian Games.

South Korea won 30 gold, 33 silver and 40 bronze medals to finish fourth in the overall standings behind China, Iran and Japan on the 28th day of the Games.

After finishing second overall (53 gold, 45 silver, 46 bronze) at the 2018 Games in Indonesia, South Korea revised its targets downward as bowling, which won 12 gold medals at that event, was removed from the program.

Cyclist Kim Jung-bin (Sport Class MB) shared three gold medals with pilot Yoon Joong-heon (Jeonbuk Para Cycling Federation), while table tennis, a traditional medal field, saw Korea win a total of nine gold medals, led by Seo Soo-yeon (Sport Class 1-Gwangju Metropolitan Government), who won three titles in the women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

Table tennis had three double winners, including Joo Young-dae (Sport Class 1-Gyeongnam Para Sports Federation), Park Jin-cheol (Sport Class 2-Gwangju Metropolitan Government) and Kim Ki-tae (Sport Class 11-Busan Para Sports Federation).

In shooting, Lee Jang-ho (Sport Class SH1 – Cheongju City Hall), Lee Myung-ho (Sport Class SH2 – Cheongju City Hall) and Lee Chul-jae (Sport Class SH2 – Chungbuk Shooting Federation) won gold medals.

In archery, Park Hong-jo (Sport Class ARW1-Seoul Special City Hall) and Kim Ok-geum (Sport Class ARW1-Gwangju Metropolitan Government) won gold in the mixed doubles, while wheelchair tennis pair Lim Ho-won (Sporting Korea) and Han Sung-bong (Dalseong County) won gold together in the men’s doubles.

Swimmer Lee In-guk (Sport Class S14-Ansan Mayor’s Sports Association) won gold in the men’s 100-meter butterfly with Japan’s Anku Matsuda, with the pair finishing within one-hundredth of a second of each other, while cycling’s Lee Do-yeon (Sport Class WH4-North Korea Para Cycling Federation) won the handcycle road solo, which involves lying on your back and rolling the pedals with your arms.

Judoka Lee Jung-min (Sport Class J2-Pyeongtaek City Hall), who is retiring from the national team at the end of the Games, won his second consecutive Para Asian Games title, a fitting send-off.

While not a Paralympic sport, the sport is a traditional powerhouse at the Games, with two gold medals in the men’s singles and four in the women’s singles and mixed doubles.

There were also gold medal wins in taekwondo and go, which were included for the first time at the Games.

Joo Jeong-hoon (Sport Class K44-SK EcoPlant) was crowned the inaugural champion in the men’s taekwondo under-80kg category, while Kim Dong-han (Department of Go, Myongji University) won two gold medals in the men’s individual and team events.

Chess, which was introduced as an official sport for the first time at the last Games, saw Kim Min-ho (Sport Class PI-Korea Chess Federation) represent Korea at the first ever Para-Chess Asian Games, going 5-2 in the men’s standard and 3-4 in the rapid (seven games in total), but failed to win a medal.

However, there were some disappointments.

The world’s strongest sport, boccia, only won two gold medals at the Games, in the mixed pairs and mixed team events.

Table tennis also brought home the most gold medals for the Korean team (nine), but it was about half of what was expected, and lawn bowls, which had hoped for seven, had to settle for four.

Although they achieved their goal of finishing fourth overall, they can’t just smile. It could have been worse.

China came out on top with an overwhelming 214 gold, 167 silver, and 140 bronze medals, nearly five times more than second-place Iran (44 gold, 46 silver, 41 bronze) and third-place Japan (42 gold, 49 silver, 59 bronze).

Despite fielding rookies and second-team athletes, Korea’s 12 gold medals widened the gap with third-place Japan, which excelled in basic events such as track and field and swimming, to just one gold medal, while the gap with India (29 gold, 31 silver, 51 bronze) and Indonesia (29 gold, 30 silver, 36 bronze), which finished fifth and sixth, respectively, was only one gold medal.

“Overall, the medal count was leveled except for China,” said Park Jong-cheol, the team’s general manager, “and there is room for India, Indonesia, Thailand (7th) and Uzbekistan (8th) to improve further.”

“We need to make long-term investments to achieve results in basic sports such as athletics and swimming,” said Jeong Jin-wan, president of the Korean Paralympic Committee. “We will also win more medals in our traditionally strong sports such as archery, table tennis, and shooting to maintain our top three or four rankings.” 슬롯