Lee Wins First Asian Games Men's Singles Teqball Gold

Lee Jun-suk won the first men's singles teqball gold ever awarded at the Asian Games, defeating Iraq's Ali Jalil Mezher Alelayawi 2-0 at the Higashi Sports Center in Nagoya on 20 September 2026.

Ranked world No. 391, Lee faced an opponent nearly 300 places above him at No. 23. The opening set reflected that chasm early, as Alelayawi pressed ahead. Lee clawed back to tie it at 11-11, returned the Iraqi's serve, then struck with his right foot to steal the set.

A roar on match point

The second set unspooled differently. Lee surged to a 9-2 lead, feeding on his opponent's errors and unleashing a stream of powerful attacks. After a long rally put him up 10-3, he let out a roar and soon sealed the gold with an emphatic final strike.

Lee, aged 27, walked an unlikely path to the top of a debut sport. He played football for K4 League side Icheon Citizen into his early twenties, then moved into jokgu before discovering teqball. Without a professional league in Korea, he worked a manufacturing job and trained on the side.

From a rented court to history

When the Games added teqball in February 2026, Lee quit his job to train full-time. Barred from the national training centre, he and his amateur teammates rented a jokgu court in Icheon, arranged their own meals in Nagoya, and slept in a cramped business hotel. He even paid his own way to Hungary for private coaching.

"I think we are paving a good path for teqball in Korea," Lee told reporters afterwards. The day after his victory, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee announced plans to open the Jincheon National Training Center to teqball athletes for the first time.

A former footballer who risked everything on a sport few recognised now owns its first continental crown.