(Asiad) S. Korea cruises past Kazakhstan for 2nd straight win in women's handball

NAGOYA, Japan — A South Korean women's team secured a bronze medal in soft tennis at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, marking their first medal in the sport during this year's competition. The team faced a challenging journey, losing 2-1 to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals at Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya, central Japan.

Unlike other sports that have a separate bronze medal match, there was no dedicated bronze medal contest in soft tennis. Consequently, both the Chinese Taipei team and the South Korean team were awarded bronze medals. Earlier in the day, the Philippines claimed the first bronze after losing to Japan.

The team matches followed a best-of-three format, with teams needing to win two matches to secure a victory. Each team competed in two best-of-nine doubles matches and one best-of-seven singles match. In the opening doubles match, South Korea's Lee Su-jin and Kim Han-sul were defeated by Chinese Taipei's Hsu Chiao-ying and Huang Shih-yuan with a score of 5-4.

Following the doubles match, South Korea's Hwang Jeong-mi triumphed over Chinese Taipei's Chiang Min-yu in the singles match. Remarkably, Hwang rallied from a 3-2 deficit to secure a narrow 4-3 victory. However, the South Korean team's efforts came to an end in the final doubles match, where they lost to Chinese Taipei's Zhou Yan-zhen and Lo Shu-ting with a score of 5-4.