The draw for seven team sports at the 18th Asian Games will take place on Thursday, July 5 in the latest milestone on the road to the opening ceremony on August 18.
The draws for rugby sevens, handball, sepak takraw, volleyball, water polo, basketball and football will be held at the JS Luwansa Hotel and Convention Centre in Jakarta under the supervision of the Olympic Council of Asia.
The draw for women’s basketball holds particular interest as it will feature the joint team of North Korea and South Korea playing under the name “Korea” and the Olympic code “COR”.
The OCA approved unified Korean teams in women’s basketball, dragon boat racing and rowing in a four-party meeting on June 28 – the first time this will happen in Asian Games history. Two of the sports, dragon boat and rowing, will take place at the co-host city of Palembang, capital of South Sumatra province some 1,000km from Jakarta.
South Korea are the reigning champions in women’s basketball, having beaten China 70-64 in the final at Incheon, Korea in 2014, and will defend their gold medal with North Korean players alongside them. The OCA has stipulated that unified Korean teams cannot have extra athletes – unlike the joint women’s ice hockey team at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February – and must follow the quota of all other teams. The deadline for athlete registration for unified Korea teams has been extended from June 30 to July 10.
Women’s basketball has been played in 11 editions of the Asian Games, starting at Tehran in 1974. China have won the gold medal five times, South Korea four and Japan twice.
South Korea also won the men’s basketball title at Incheon four years ago but still trail China by three gold medals: 7-4.
A total of 25 teams will be in the men’s football draw, with South Korea the defending champions, and 11 teams will play in the women’s event at Palembang with North Korea defending the gold medal. In seven editions of women’s football at the Asian Games, China and North Korea each have three titles and Japan one.
