United Korea smash hosts in Asian hoops

Suk Yong Ro

A joint Korean women's basketball team marked their Asian Games debut Wednesday by pulverising hosts Indonesia 108-40, roared on by giddy fans waving unified Korean flags. North Korean Suk Yong Ro (181-C-93), one of three Pyongyang-based players in the away team, top-scored with 22 points for the sharp-shooting visitors and fellow northerner Hye Yon Kim (172-G-98) added 14 in a lop-sided Group X opener in Jakarta. Around 100 Korean fans in white T-shirts bearing a blue unified Korean flag with the slogan "One dream, one Corea", serenaded the players and banged drums as they tried to drown out a wall of noise produced by cymbal-crashing locals. "We haven't had a lot of time to work on our team chemistry but we speak the same language and we are all on the same page," Korean coach Lee Moon-kyu told AFP. "North or South Korean, we all have the same desire to win." There was a stark contrast between the South Korean players with their dyed hair and trendy bobs and the sensible haircuts of their northern cousins. But the harmony demonstrated on the court suggested they will be medal challengers. North and South Korea are also fielding united teams in canoeing and rowing at the Asian Games in the latest sign of thawing relations on the troubled peninsula. The two countries are also set to march together at the opening and closing ceremonies after forming their first-ever unified Olympic team -- a joint women's ice hockey side -- for February's Winter Games in Pyeongchang. The Asian Games formally open on Saturday and run until September 2.
Courtesy of: egypttoday.com