Lee Jun-seok of South Korea celebrates after winning the second set of the men's singles final in techball at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Higashi Sports Center in Nagoya, Japan, on Sunday. [Yonhap]
Lee Jun-seok of South Korea celebrates after winning the second set of the men's singles final in techball at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Higashi Sports Center in Nagoya, Japan, on Sunday. [Yonhap]

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee said Monday it plans to arrange support for the national techball team to train at the Jincheon National Training Center, following the sport's first-ever gold medal.

Techball, in which players exchange a soccer ball over a curved specialized table, made its debut as an official discipline at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

South Korea claimed the historic gold on Sunday when Lee Jun-seok defeated Jalil Mezher Al-Elayawi of Iraq 2-0 in sets in the men's singles final.

Lee had given up his livelihood to focus on training ahead of the Asian Games, and had previously said his dream was to train at the Jincheon National Training Center.

The committee said it had considered allowing techball athletes to train at the Jincheon center before the Games, but could not secure space as the facility was already packed with athletes preparing for the competition.

Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President Yoo Seung-min, who attended the final to cheer Lee on and congratulate him on his gold medal, said the committee would "find a way for the athletes to make use of the training environment at the Jincheon National Training Center so that techball can continue to grow."


yjc@heraldcorp.com