Nagoya, Japan, September 19, 2026: Thanks to the generous support of his mother, and his own decision to gamble everything he had, Lee Jun-suk’s dream of representing Korea at the Asian Games has paid off massively after he guaranteed himself a medal in teqball.
A talented footballer, Lee thought his chances of competing for his country were over when he retired from the sport he had played since he was a kid, only for him to be given an unexpected second chance when he discovered teqball.
A perfect match for a sport that combines the juggling skills of a footballer with table tennis and sepak takraw, Lee showed plenty of early promise when he started playing teqball but, to fulfil his lifeline ambition, he knew he had to devote himself entirely to the sport.
So, after his mother helped him out by buying a teqball table that he could train on, Lee later quit his job and moved to Hungary to fast track his development in the hope he could compete at the Asian Games after Teqball was included on the program for the first time.
“I was 21 and had no money. When I said, ‘Mum, I want to try training in teqball’, she said yes, bought me a table and supported me in every way,” Lee said.
“Now I feel I can repay her and that makes me very happy. We were not well off. We had plenty of love, but not plenty of money in those days.
“Of course I imagined this moment. Last night I sat alone in the sauna at the hotel thinking, I really want to get to the final, I really want to get there. Now the moment has come and I am so happy.”
Lee is through to the men’s singles final without dropping a set in five matches, three in the pool stage, then a quarter-final and a semi-final.
He won his semi against Kuwait’s Zaid Eidan when his opponent retired injured in the second set after losing a tight first set to Lee.
Lee played and lost to Eidan in a practice match when he first arrived at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Centre on Wednesday so knew he had to be at his best to beat him in the semis.
“I felt that to win I would have to be full of fight and go at it like crazy, so I gave it everything,” Lee said.
“The match ended with my opponent injured, so I feel sorry for him, but I am very happy to have won and reached the final, and securing a medal is a moment of some relief.”
Lee is bracing for an even tougher match in the final when he takes on Ali Jalil Mezher Alelayaawi.
“I know the Iraqi player well. I know how he plays and I knew he was a favourite for the title,” Lee said.
