Four days into the Incheon Asian Games 2014, and cheers and shouts of, “Go, Korea!” and “Go, Hong Kong!” echoed across the Yeonhui Cricket Ground in Seo-gu, Incheon, on September 22 as Asia's biggest sporting event continued on its 15-day run.

The women’s cricket teams from Korea and Hong Kong faced off in a Group C preliminary match, each hoping for a ticket to advance to the quarterfinals. A total of ten Asian countries are to be pitted against each other to reach the Round of 8, while the stronger teams -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Japan -- have already landed a ticket into the next round.


Dubbed the “origin of baseball,” cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players each. Each team takes its turn at bat, attempting to score runs, while a bowler delivers the ball, attempting to knock off the bails lying atop the three stumps -- collectively known as the wicket -- in which case the batter is out. Each team is given 20 overs, in each of which a total of six balls are bowled. The batting team tries to score as many runs as possible within the 20 overs, or until he or she is out.

The sport was adopted as an official event at the Guangzhou Asian Games 2010. The Korean women's team is competing in the sport for the first time this year.


Having to field first as a result of the coin toss, the Korean women's team gave away 92 runs to the Hong Kong team, which was on the offensive. After the 20 overs, the Korean team went on the offensive, only to gain just 57 runs by the time ten batters were out.

Although their team lost by a large margin, the audience who came to cheer for the Korean team admired the Hong Kong team’s unparalleled skills and gave a big round of applause to the visitors, in awe. Hong Kong fans, too, clapped and applauded, as they cheered on the Korean athletes on the field.


Meanwhile in field hockey, the Seonhak Hockey Stadium was buzzing as Korea and Kazakhstan faced off against each other in the women’s hockey Pool B preliminary match. The Korean hockey players were formidable enough to defeat their Kazakhstan counterparts 11-0.

Throughout the 60 minutes of the four quarters, Oh Sun-soon, with No. 10 blazoned across her uniform, pulled off a hat trick. Kim Jong-eun, Kim Da-rae and Kim Ok-ju, too, scored two goals each.

The Kazakhstani team had three shots on goal, only to be cut off by an impenetrable defense on the Korean side.

Despite such a crushing defeat, the Kazakhstani players did their best and showed true sportsmanship, shaking hands and encouraging their competitors to the end.

The Korean women's hockey team is now scheduled to meet Japan on September 24, which crushed Hong Kong by a margin of 14-0 earlier in the competition.

By Sohn JiAe
Photos: Jeon Han
jiae5853@korea.kr