Asian Games 2026: South Korea beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 to retain gold

Three years on from Hangzhou, South Korea met Chinese Taipei again in the Asian Games final on Friday in Aichi-Nagoya. The defending champions held on to their title in a series that was closer than the scoreline suggests.

Korea recover from two slow starts

South Korea reached the final without dropping a single game. There they faced Chinese Taipei, the tournament's other favourites, whom they had already beaten in the group stage. Korea were still heavy favourites, but the first two games gave them a scare. In both early games, Yu "JunJia" Chun-Chia set the whole map on fire and pushed his lanes to leads that sometimes went past 1,500 gold at 15 minutes.

The first cracks showed in the mid game. Korea were calmer and better organised — they punished Chinese Taipei's mistakes, then swept the teamfights. Game 3 was the most controlled of the series, with Korea taking the dragon soul and Baron before a final ace sealed the 3-0.

Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo was clearly the standout on the Korean side. He won every laning phase against Tsai "HongQ" Ming-Hong, even when his team were on the back foot. On Locke in Game 2 (11/4/7), he sent a reminder just before Worlds: the best assassin player in the world in the mid lane is him.

With Zeka starting all three games, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok did not play a single game of the final. For the six-time world champion, that was never the point. Speaking to the press in the mixed zone after the match, he said:

Playing on the finals stage wasn’t my biggest priority. Winning as a team was the bigger goal for me. Winning together and what we gained from this process are more valuable to me than my personal ambition.

What it means

This medal changes the careers of three players. Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, Choi "Zeus" Woo-je and Ryu "Keria" Min-seok had already been exempt from military service since Hangzhou. Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu, Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyung and Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo now earn that exemption too. In place of 18 to 21 months of mandatory service, they will complete a few weeks of basic military training and a set number of community service hours.

There is little time to celebrate. Worlds begin in thirteen days and the six medallists go back to their clubs: Zeus, Zeka and Gumayusi to Hanwha Life Esports, Canyon to Gen.G, Faker and Keria to T1. Today's teammates will be opponents in less than two weeks.