Lee Jun-suk becomes inaugural gold medalist in men's teqball

NAGOYA, Japan — Lee Jun-suk soared to gold in the men's singles teqball event at the Asian Games on Sunday, becoming the inaugural champion of the brand new sport making its Asiad debut. Lee defeated Ali Jalil Mezher Alelayawi of Iraq 2-0 (12-11, 12-5) in the final at Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center in Nagoya, Japan. Lee, 27, went undefeated on his way to the top of the podium, having won all five group matches and then both of his knockout contests. Lee's was South Korea's third gold medal of the Asian Games here. Invented in Hungary in 2014, teqball combines elements of football, table tennis, freestyle skills and sepaktakraw. It is played on a curved table, with players allowed to hit the ball with any part of their body except the hands and arms. A player must return the ball with a maximum of three touches and cannot touch the ball with the same body part twice in a row. Lee Jun-suk and his men's doubles partner Lee Tae-been had lost to Alelayawi and Abdulrahman Ahmed Radhi in the quarterfinals by 2-0 (12-9, 12-7) on Thursday, and Lee Jun-suk had his moment in the singles this tim