"Doubles Ended at Dawn, Singles Began in the Morning"—A Chaotic Schedule Takes Its Toll as Kwon Soon-woo Shockingly Withdraws from Singles with Knee Injury [Nagoya Asian Games]

[Financial News]  Relentless wind and rain, combined with a punishing schedule, ultimately brought down the face of South Korean tennis. Kwon Soon-woo (Chungnam Sports Council) had spent the previous day battling on court past midnight, but his left knee finally gave out. With the ace's painful withdrawal, not a single South Korean men's or women's singles player remained alive in the Asian Games.
Kwon Soon-woo withdrew while trailing Kumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan 0-3 in the first set of their men's singles third-round match at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya, Japan, on the 30th. It happened just 11 minutes after the match began. Complaining of severe pain in his left knee on court, Kwon decided that he could no longer sustain normal rallies and reluctantly put down his racket.
Kwon Soon-woo's sudden injury was, to some extent, an accident waiting to happen. Delays to the tournament schedule caused by severe weather were identified as the main reason. On the 29th, one day earlier, Kwon endured a grueling run that included both his men's singles second-round match and a men's doubles second-round match with Hong Seong-chan (Dangjin City Hall). Because rain repeatedly delayed play, the doubles match did not finish until after midnight on the 30th. Having suffered both physical and mental setbacks after losing 1-2 to a Japanese pair, Kwon took the court for the singles third round without even a full day's rest. His knee eventually gave out.
With Kwon Soon-woo sent packing, South Korean tennis was left with the bitter result of every player being eliminated from the men's and women's singles events at these Games. Hong Seong-chan, who had been counted on, suffered defeat in the men's singles second round, while Yeonwoo Ku (CJ CheilJedang) and Baek Da-yeon (Nonghyup Bank) also failed to advance past the second round.
To make matters worse, injuries and illness compounded the team's troubles. The women's doubles team of Park Sohyun (Gangwon Provincial Government) and Jeong Bo-young (Andong City Hall) also withdrew from their scheduled second-round match that day. Park Sohyun was suffering from severe flu and was in no condition to compete.
Before the tournament began, the South Korean tennis team had arrived in Nagoya full of confidence, targeting four gold medals. But amid a punishing schedule created by repeated injuries to key players and severe weather, the team was sent packing after facing the bleak reality of a complete singles wipeout.


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