Golden jubilation on hostile ground... South Korean women’s handball and skateboarding topple Japan to rule Asia [Nagoya Asian Games]

[Financial News] South Korean sports delivered one piece of good news after another on Japanese soil, showcasing the full strength of the country’s status as an Asian sporting powerhouse. South Korea’s women’s national handball team defeated archrival Japan to return to the top of Asia after eight years. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Juni Kang of Seoul Yeongdeungpo High School, the future of South Korean skateboarding, pulled off a historic feat by beating Japanese competitors in the sport’s de facto home country to win the nation’s first gold medal.
Led by head coach Lee Gye-cheong, South Korea’s women’s national handball team defeated Japan 27-23 in the final round-robin match of the 2026 Asian Games at ENTRIO in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, on the 27th. The victory gave South Korea the coveted gold medal with a flawless 6-0 record.

It was South Korea’s first triumph in eight years, since the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, and its eighth Asian Games gold medal overall. More importantly, the team fully avenged the painful 19-29 defeat it suffered against Japan in the final of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, doing so on Japanese soil three years later.
At the heart of the victory were two veterans and a goalkeeper who anchored the team. Ryu Eun-hee, a four-time Olympian who has played in France, Hungary and elsewhere in Europe, and Kwon Han-na, both 36 and members of Busan Facilities Corporation, opened up the attack with five and four goals, respectively.

In defense, goalkeeper Park Sae-young of Samcheok City Hall delivered a dazzling performance. She stopped 12 shots in total—seven in the first half and five in the second—for a 41% save percentage, repeatedly halting Japan’s comeback efforts. The decisive moment came around the 13-minute mark of the second half, when Ryu Eun-hee was sent off for two minutes and South Korea faced a numerical disadvantage. Park’s superb saves and the players’ tight defensive teamwork enabled the team to hold Japan scoreless through the crisis.

Before the jubilation from handball had even faded, another miraculous golden triumph followed at the Aichi Sky Expo hall. In the men’s street skateboarding final, Juni Kang posted a combined score of 180.85 points, comfortably beating Japanese competitors from the host country, including silver medalist Toa Sasaki with 172.35 points and bronze medalist Kinu Onodera with 168.11 points, to stand atop the podium.
Since skateboarding was first introduced as an official Asian Games sport in 2018, Juni Kang is the first South Korean athlete—male or female—to win a gold medal. South Korea’s previous best result was Eun Ju-won’s men’s street bronze at the 2018 Games. The victory was even more valuable because it came on the home turf of Japan, a global skateboarding powerhouse.
Juni Kang’s final was a dramatic story of alternating frustration and jubilation. He took the early lead by scoring 88.45 points on his third attempt in the Run session, in which skaters move freely around the course, placing first overall. But a severe ordeal awaited him in the ensuing Trick session, which evaluates individual high-difficulty maneuvers.

Juni Kang fell on both his first and second attempts, scoring 0.00 points, and burst into tears. But the determination of the skater wearing the Taegeuk mark did not waver. He climbed back onto his board and made another attempt at the same difficult combination in his third and final try. He popped up the front of the board and used his heel to rotate it in midair while turning his body 270 degrees, then caught the center of the board on the rail and slid down perfectly. Immediately after landing successfully, Kang burst into tears once more, seemingly sensing victory. He was awarded an extraordinary 92.40 points, putting the finishing touch on a perfect win.
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