S. Korean water polo team gets first victory in World Aquatics Championships

South Korean national water polo team won 17-16 against New Zealand on Tuesday at the 15th and 16th place playoff of the 2019 Gwangju World Aquatics Championships held at the water polo arena at Nambu University in Gwangju, South Korea.

The South Korean national team, which competed for the first time in the World Aquatics Championships as a host country’s team, recorded the first-ever win during its last match to be placed in the 15th position.

The two teams, which had bitter losses in all four matches until Tuesday, including group league matches, were determined to get one win. The match to decide which team will be in the bottom could be rather discouraging, but a seesaw match had continued for 32 minutes until the fourth period. Thirty-two seconds before the end of the match with the score of 11-12 with the South Korean team on the losing side Gwon Yeong-gyun scored an equalizer, followed by goalkeeper Lee Jin-woo’s successful defense against a shooting attempt by New Zealand before the game ended.

“Asian teams such as Kazakhstan and Japan have developed global skills,” said Coach Lee Seung-jae of the South Korean team. “Our team will also be able to show good performance once receiving more support to accumulate experiences, such as training in other countries.”


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com