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ASIAD-2018-BASKETBALL-COR
‘We are one’ – Unified Korea slam Taiwan to reach Asian hoops final
JAKARTA, Aug 30, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A joint Korean women’s basketball team
slammed Taiwan 89-66 to reach the Asian Games final on Thursday, helped by
Las Vegas razzmatazz and some good, old, northern grit.
Roared on by around 100 fans waving Korean unification flags, North Korean
Ro Suk Yong joint top-scored with 17 points in a blow-out victory in Jakarta.
The winners await either China or Japan in this weekend’s gold medal game.
Beanpole centre Park Ji-su chipped in with 10 points — one of six Korean
players in double figures — in her first game since being released by WNBA
team the Las Vegas Aces.
A noisy section of Korean fans waving flags bearing the blue Korean
unification flag with the slogan “One dream, one Corea”, and wearing matching
T-shirts, serenaded the players throughout.
As chants of “Uri nun hana da” (we are one) echoed around the arena, the
Koreans were sparked by a captain’s performance from Lim Yung-hui — who at
38 is old enough to be the mother of some of her team-mates.
Lim also scored 17 points, along with Park Hye-jin, in a one-sided
encounter.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Korea forward Kim Han-byul told
AFP.
“It’s definitely historical — just the fact the North Korean girls are
able to play with us,” added Kim, who was born Kimberly Roberson to a Korean
mother and an American father in Indiana. “I’m mixed myself and I came here
with an open slate, that’s what our whole team did. We show each other photos
of our families, they’re really nice girls — my mum’s met them!
“It’s a big, big step in the right direction. Hopefully it will propel
something in the future for maybe coming together again.”
– State-approved haircuts –
Kim looked every inch the street baller with her bleach-blonde hair and
headband, while her northern cousins sported sensible, state-approved cropped
cuts and no-nonsense ponytails.
But the hard-working Ro, one of three Pyongyang-based players on the team,
had travelling Korean media eating out of her hand after the game.
“When you are united good things happen,” said the 25-year-old. “I’ve never
felt such warm support on a basketball court,” added Ro, who paid tribute to
Park’s contribution.
“Park Ji-su had a big impact — she’s like a tree, just blocks everything.”
Park provided the highlight of the game with a gnarly spin move on the
baseline, topped off with a finger-roll Allen Iverson would have been proud
of.
North and South Korea have also formed united teams in canoeing and rowing
at the Asian Games in the latest sign of thawing relations on the troubled
peninsula.
The two countries marched together at the opening ceremony in Jakarta after
forming their first-ever unified Olympic team — a joint women’s ice hockey
side — for February’s Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
However, Taiwan coach Albert Wagner was less enthralled at Korea’s modern-
day version of the ping pong diplomacy that brought the United States and
China closer in the seventies.
“Obviously it would be great if it were for the right reasons and not just
to get good players,” the American told AFP.
“It would be historical if they came together as a country, not just as a
convenience.”
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1245 hrs