The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games will open on the 23rd. 12,500 athletes from 45 countries will compete for a total of 481 gold medals in 40 official events and 61 detailed events.
Korea dispatched 1,180 athletes to Hangzhou, the largest number ever for the Asian Games. The Korean Sports Council set a goal of 50 gold medals and 3rd place in the overall ranking. Badminton Ahn Se-young, track and field high jumper Woo Sang-hyuk, and swimming Hwang Sun-woo are also on the hunt for their first Asian Games gold medal.
‘High jump’ Woo Sang-hyuk wins the Diamond League by surpassing 2m35… Next stage is Hangzhou AG ‘Gold Medal’
Woo Sang-hyuk appeared like a comet at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He set a new Korean record by placing 4th in the high jump with 2m25m.
Since then, Woo Sang-hyuk has continued her unstoppable growth path and on the 17th, she won the gold medal by surpassing her personal outdoor best of 2m35 at the World Association of Athletics Federation Diamond Finals held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ariz.
Woo Sang-hyuk, who failed to participate in the finals last year as she remained in 7th place in cumulative ranking points, showed her remarkable growth by taking 4th place in cumulative ranking points and 1st place in the finals this year.
Woo Sang-hyuk is now playing to win the Hangzhou Asian Games안전놀이터. She is determined to go beyond the silver medal at the 2018 Jakarta and Palembang Asian Games. In order to win the gold medal, he must overcome his destined rival, Barsim of Qatar, the world’s strongest player.
Barsim is known as the strongest high jumper after winning the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. He missed the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang due to an ankle problem, but is expected to participate in this tournament.
The lineage of men’s swimming ‘gold medals’ ended after Park Tae-hwan… Is Hwang Seon-woo back?
Hwang Sun-woo, who set new Korean records in the 100m and 200m freestyle at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, is also a strong gold medal candidate.
Sunwoo Hwang won a bronze medal by setting a new Korean record at 1 minute 44.42 seconds in the men’s 200m freestyle at the 2023 Fukuoka World Aquatics Championships held last July. He won a silver medal at last year’s Budapest Games with a time of 1 minute 44.47 seconds, and he also reached the podium at this year’s competition, becoming the first Korean athlete to win two consecutive world championship medals.
Since the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Korean men’s swimming has not produced a gold medalist at a world competition. Hwang Sun-woo is aiming to win three gold medals in the Asian Games, where he is competing for the first time, including the 100m and 200m freestyle, and the 800m relay, which is a team event.
Ahn Se-young, world number one in women’s badminton, shows signs of being the strongest singles player
On the 27th of last month, Ahn Se-young reached the top at the 2023 World Badminton Championships held at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark. She became the first Korean athlete to win a gold medal in singles.
All of the ‘Big 4’ badminton women’s singles will participate in this Asian Games. World No. 1 Seiyoung An, World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi, World No. 3 Chen Yu-Fei, and World No. 4 Tai Chu-ying are expected to compete for the gold medal.
Ahn Se-young was eliminated in the round of 32 at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. However, in those five years, she has shown tremendous growth and has risen to become the world’s strongest. If she maintains her current pace, it is expected that she will be able to win gold at the Asian Games.