Nam Ji-sung (Dangjin City Hall) and Park Ui-sung (Daegu City Hall) have advanced to the men's doubles final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, becoming the only surviving pair from the South Korean tennis team.
On October 1, at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya, the duo defeated Taiwan's Hsu Chien-lu and Hsu Yu-shiou in the semifinals with a set score of 2-1 (7-67-3, 2-6, [11-9]).
After a tightly contested match lasting 1 hour and 33 minutes, they secured their place in the final, guaranteeing at least a silver medal.
This marks the first time a South Korean tennis player has reached the Asian Games final since the 2014 Incheon Games, a 12-year gap.
Seeded second in the tournament, Nam and Park faced a fierce battle from the start. They won the first set in a tiebreak but struggled in the second, losing 2-6 after allowing four consecutive games early on.
In the decisive third set, they rallied from a 5-6 deficit in the 10-point match tiebreak, scoring three consecutive points to lead 8-6. Although they allowed their opponents to catch up to 9-9, they regained control after the changeover, finishing the match at 11-9.
Initially aiming for up to four gold medals, South Korean tennis faced disappointments in men's and women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. Star player Kwon Soon-woo (Chungnam Sports Council) withdrew due to a knee injury just 11 minutes into his third-round match, while Kwon Young-woo (CJ CheilJedang) was eliminated in the second round of women's singles. The women's doubles team of Park So-hyun and Jeong Bo-young also withdrew in the second round due to Park's flu.
The last hope for South Korean tennis rests on the duo known as the 'Seongseong Duo.' If they win the final, it will be the first gold medal for South Korean tennis at the Asian Games since the men's doubles team of Lim Yong-kyu and Chung Hyeon in 2014.
The final will take place on October 2, where they will face the winners of the semifinal match between Zhang Pumin and Zhang Tianhui (China) and Gusuhara Yusuke and Nakagawa Shunsuke (Japan).
* This article has been translated by AI.
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