By Seol Ha-eun – Hangzhou Commonwealth Foundation = South Korean boccia standouts Jung Ho-won (Gangwon Province Disabled Sports Federation) and Kang Sun-hee (Gwangju Disabled Boccia Federation) have won their long-awaited gold medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Para Asian Games.

The pair defeated Hong Kong 7-2 in the boccia mixed pairs BC3 final on Sunday at the Hangzhou Gymnasium in Zhejiang Province of China.

The pair of Chung Ho-won and Kang Sun-hee dropped the first end 0-1, but came back to win the second end 4-1.

The South Korean boccia players, the world’s strongest, were disappointed not to win a gold medal in the singles event at the Games, but they were all smiles on the final day as they stood atop the podium.

“There was pressure, but I had no choice but to accept it,” said Jung Ho-won, who has played for the national team since 2002. “I’m happy to win a gold medal at an international tournament after a long time.”

“I thought that as long as I could do what I could, (Jung) would do a good job,” said Kang Sun-hee, who credits her teammate, “I just followed what (Jung) told me to do, and that’s how it ended.”

Chung is a veteran athlete who won the men’s singles at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Paralympic Games and the pairs at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

He lost in the men’s singles final on Aug. 25 and was unable to win gold, but he made up for it on this day.

Boccia BC3 is played with a partner. They both receive a medal together.

Jung Ho-won’s partner is Kim Seung-gyeom, the national team coach and a friend of Jung Ho-won’s who has lived with him for 13 years.

“You worked so hard,” Jung said of Kim. Congratulations on the gold medal, too.” Kim responded, “Thank you for following a bad coach for two years.”

The Korean boccia team added another gold medal in the team event on the same day.

Kim Do-hyun, Jung So-young (Chungnam Disabled Boccia Federation) and Seo Min-gyu (Gyeonggi-do Boccia Federation) defeated Indonesia 8-4 in the team final to win gold.

The Korean boccia team won two gold, four silver and one bronze medals at the tournament. 토토사이트