(Asiad) Baseball team goes for 5th consecutive gold; women's handball teams seeks revenge vs. Japan

As the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games near their final week, South Korea aims for a fifth consecutive baseball gold medal on Sunday. The team, led by coach Ryu Ji-hyun and composed of top stars from the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), will face off against host country Japan in the final match at 6:30 p.m. in Toyohashi, located southeast of Nagoya city.

South Korea dominated their preliminary games before suffering a 5-0 defeat to Japan in the Super Round opener on Friday. However, they quickly rebounded by defeating China 9-2 on Saturday and securing their spot in the final. On the other hand, the women's handball team will contest their final game for the gold medal against Japan on Sunday at 6 p.m. in Entrio, Inazawa, northwest of Nagoya.

The tournament's format, without a knockout stage, awards medals based on final standings after round-robin play. Currently, South Korea and Japan are the only undefeated teams, having each won five games in a total of six matches. In athletics, high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok seeks his first Asiad title after facing recent challenges.

The two-time silver medalist was sidelined for about three months due to a foot injury sustained during a May competition and has yet to recapture his season-high of 2.30 meters since returning to action in August.