“It’s a team sport, so individual performance doesn’t matter. The team lost, so I am the ‘breadwinner’.”

Cho Seung-hyun (Sport Class 4-Chuncheon Tigers) smiled bitterly.

The ace, who scored a team-high 18 points, pulled down eight rebounds and dished out six assists while committing just one foul in the men’s wheelchair basketball final against Japan at the Hangzhou 2022 Para Asian Games, couldn’t give himself any grace.

South Korea’s wheelchair basketball team took home the silver medal after nine years of trying to win the Asian crown since Incheon in 2014.

The team, led by Ko Kwang-yup (50, Samdasu, Jeju), lost 45-47 to Japan on Sunday at the Olympic Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.

South Korea held an eight-point lead (27-19) at halftime, but lost momentum in the third quarter, scoring 11 straight points, and struggled against Japan’s defense, which pressed hard from the perimeter in the fourth quarter.

The disappointment was even greater as they had beaten Japan once before, 52-38, in the second game of the group stage on the 20th.

Players and coaches alike said, “It’s my fault. After the game, Lim Dong-joo (Sport Grade 2 – Coway Blue Wheels) said, “I didn’t see the time left on the last shot.

I could have shot more calmly, but I threw it in a hurry.”

He criticized himself for missing a game-tying buzzer-beater just before the end of the game.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Lim Dong-joo tied the game (45-45) with a celestial three-pointer, but all he could do was miss.

Coach Ko Kwang-yup said, “The players played really well.

We made some mistakes in terms of the timing of the bench and the use of players,” he said.

Japan is considered the “Asian powerhouse” in wheelchair basketball.

They won a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics two years ago, and members of that team are still in the lineup. 바카라사이트

The average age of the squad is also younger than South Korea’s, and Japan’s ability to keep up the pace of activity and transition throughout the 40 minutes proved to be the difference.

South Korea beat Japan in the final of the 2014 tournament in Incheon, their first win over the Japanese in nine years in the last group stage, and it was a close game until the end.

“We made something out of nothing,” said Cho Seung-hyun, a member of the winning team.

After that gold medal, the domestic wheelchair basketball league and the unemployment team were established, and the number of young players increased, and the results showed in this tournament.

If we keep going like this, we will have better results next time.”

Ko’s next goal is to qualify for the Paris Paralympics.

In January next year, she will reunite with her Asian teammates for two spots at the Paralympic Quarterfinals.