Korea spoils the party in Nagoya
South Korea beat host Japan 67-57 in the men's basketball final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, taking gold in front of a home crowd at the Aichi International Arena. The team is coached by Nikolajs Mazurs of Latvia. Korea controlled the second half after a tight start, and Japan had to settle for silver at its own tournament. The men's competition ran from September 10 to 20 and brought together 12 teams, including China, Iran, Jordan, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan.
Defending champions fall early
The Philippines, which won gold in Hangzhou in 2023, was eliminated in group play. A 105-61 defeat left the team outside the quarterfinals on point differential. Japan's first gold medal of the Games came on Sunday as well, when Takumi Hojo won the men's triathlon.
Cricket history and shooting silvers
In cricket, India's Shafali Verma became the first batter to score a century at an Asian Games. Her unbeaten 100 helped India reach 195 for four against Bangladesh, and the side won by 114 runs to move into the gold medal final. She hit nine sixes in the innings, setting a record for the most sixes by a woman in T20 internationals in a calendar year with 35. India also opened its medal account with two silver medals in shooting, led by Elavenil Valarivan. The Games opened on September 19 and run to October 4, with nearly 470 sets of medals to be decided across venues in Aichi prefecture, Tokyo and Izu.
Basketball was one of several sports that began before the opening ceremony, which took place on September 19 at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya. Cricket returned to the program as well, and the women's Twenty20 matches drew full stands. More than 10,000 athletes are competing, and the hosts are using the Games to test venues across Aichi prefecture, Tokyo and Izu.