NAN Archive

Loading

NAN Archive

Tag Asian Games

Sport

Asian Games: South Korea’s extra-time win keeps alive Son’s gold medal hopes

Asian Games

Jakarta, Aug. 27, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Tottenham Hotspur striker Son Heung-min kept alive his chances of gaining military exemption after South Korea secured a dramatic 4-3 win over 10-man Uzbekistan to reach the Asian Games semi-finals on Monday.

After Hwang Ui-jo completed his hat-trick in the 75th minute to take the match into extra-time, Hwang Hee-chan secured the win in the dying minutes of extra time.

The Korean coolly found the back of the net with his spot kick.

With so much riding on that penalty, Son was unable to watch the unfolding drama.

Son needs South Korea to win the gold medal to gain exemption from military service.

He is missing the start of Tottenham’s Premier League campaign to be in Jakarta as one of the over-aged players in the under-23 competition.

Korean law states that every able-bodied man must report for national service for 21 months before their 28th birthday.

Aged 26, time is fast running out for Son to gain the exemption offered to all Olympic medallists or Asian Games champions.

Things started well for the Koreans, the reigning champions, with Hwang Ui-jo putting his team ahead in the fifth minute.

After Uzbekistan’s Jaloliddin Masharipov swept in an equaliser in the 17th minute, Hwang Ui-jo scored his second goal to give South Korea a 2-1 halftime lead.

However, the tie turned during three frantic second half minutes when a strike from Ikromjon Alibaev and a deflected own goal off South Korean defender Hwang Hyun-soo gave Uzbekistan a 3-2 lead.

The lethal Hwang Ui-jo then latched on to a pass from Son to fire in his third goal to take the game into extra-time.

As both sets of players tired and tempers boiled-over, Alibaev was sent off in the second half of extra time after pushing one of the Koreans.

But after Hwang Ui-jo was hauled down by defender Rustamjon Ashurmatov in the 118th minute, substitute Hwang Hee-chan kept a cool head to convert the penalty that secured the win. (Reuters/NAN)
KIA/AFA
======
Edited by Felix Ajide

Sport

Asian Games: Japan send home basketball players for night with women

Asian Games: Japan send home basketball players for night with women

Jakarta, Aug. 20, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Japan have sent home four players from their Asian Games basketball team for spending the night with women in a Jakarta hotel, the head of the delegation Yasuhiro Yamashita, said on Monday.

The players left the athletes’ village, following their game against Qatar on Thursday to eat at a restaurant where they met a Japanese-speaking local.

They were then told about a bar where they could meet women, Yamashita told a news conference.

The quartet, who were wearing their team uniforms, spent a couple of hours at the bar before checking into a hotel with four women, staying there until Friday morning, he added.

Officials named the players as Takuya Hashimoto, Keita Imamura, Yuya Nagayoshi and Takuma Sato.

“The Japan National Olympic Committee decided to withdraw their accreditation and send them back to Japan early this morning,” Yamashita said.

“We have a specific disciplinary code, it’s a clear breach of the code of conduct for the Japanese delegation.

“The athletes should be role models of society, not only in the sporting venues but also on other occasions.”

Yamashita said the Japanese Olympic Committee took the issue of discipline in their team very seriously.

“A day after our arrival here the Chef de Mission and other top officials told the athletes that they had to be role models in Jakarta,” he said.

“It’s disappointing that after that instruction and encouragement, this kind of issue happened, I deeply apologise to the Japanese people as the head of the delegation.”

Japan, who won basketball bronze at the last Asian Games four years ago, beat Qatar 82-71 in their second game in Jakarta and top qualifying Group C.

Their next match is against Hong Kong on Wednesday.

“The players flew back home at their own expense,” Yamashita added.

“The remaining eight players, officials and coaches will stay here to continue to play for the rest of the competition.”

The next Olympics will be hosted by Japan in Tokyo in 2020. (Reuters/NAN)

KIA/MO/SN

=========

Edited by Omolade Michael/Silas Nwoha

Sport

Iraq’s withdrawal prompts partial redraw for Asian Games

Redraw
Hong Kong (China), Aug. 3, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) The United Arab Emirates will face China, East Timor and Syria at this month’s Asian Games.

This is after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) conducted a partial redraw of the football competition on Friday following Iraq’s late withdrawal.

The redraw was the second time the group phase of the competition had to be amended.

Before the latest redraw, the organisers had not included the UAE and Palestine in the original selection when it was conducted in early July.

Iraq’s decision on Thursday not to compete threw up further complications for organisers, leaving only three teams in their group.

Also, two other groups — featuring the late additions from the UAE and Palestine — contained five nations.

The football tournament at the Asian Games features teams comprising players aged 23 years of age and under, with coaches permitted to select three overage players.

The competition begins on Aug. 10, with the final to be played on Sept. 1.

Full Draw for Asian Games Football Event:

Group A: Indonesia, Hong Kong, Laos, Chinese Taipei, Palestine

Group B: Thailand, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Qatar

Group C: United Arab Emirates, China, East Timor, Syria

Group D: Japan, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal

Group E: South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Bahrain

Group F: North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Myanmar (Reuters/NAN)
KIA/OLAL
=========

(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Iraq withdraw from Asian Games football tournament

Withdrawal
Hong Kong, Aug. 1, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Iraq have withdrawn from the football tournament of this month’s Asian Games at Jakarta in Indonesia, potentially throwing the competition into turmoil less than two weeks before kick-off.

The Iraq Olympic Committee have withdrawn the team from the event, according to a source in Baghdad.

It is however a decision which has left officials needing to address an imbalance in the opening phase of the tournament.

Last week the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) conducted a re-draw of the competition’s group stage to add Palestine and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The pair had been left off the original entry list.

That meant two of the six groups swelled from four teams to five, but Iraq’s withdrawal now means one group will feature just three countries.

These are China, Timor Leste and Syria.

The Olympic Council of Asia, the organisers of the Asian Games, have yet to respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

A source at the Iraq Football Association had initially denied reports the team would be removed from the competition.

The source failed to speak also on whether the squad’s preparations were being finalised following the completion of a training camp in the northern city of Erbil.

Earlier this week, football officials were reported to have been fired over their involvement in the selection of overage players for the nation’s under-16 team.

This was after they were stopped at passport control on their way to participate in a regional tournament.

The withdrawal of Iraq’s footballers follows a decision by the Philippines not to send the nation’s basketball team to Jakarta.

Philippines’s decision was in the aftermath of their on-court brawl with Australia during a recent World Cup qualifier.

The football tournament at the Asian Games begins on Aug. 10 and features teams made up of players 23 years of age and under.

Coaches are however permitted to select three overage players.

The final will be played on Sept. 1.(Reuters/NAN)
KIA/KOLE/OLAL
==============

(Edited by Remi Koleoso and Olawale Alabi)