(Asian Games) N. Korean basketball player hoping for unification of peninsula

JAKARTA, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- Having starred for the joint Korean team at the 18th Asian Games, North Korean basketball player Ro Suk-yong said Saturday she'd like to see the divided Korean Peninsula reunified.

"If we're unified, then I could play for a team in the South, and then South Koreans came come play in the North," Ro said. "We should unify as soon as possible."

Ro made these comments after Korea lost to China 71-65 in the gold medal game. Ro had been the team's top offensive player but struggled in this one, making just one of six shots from the field and scoring four points.

Ro also got into early foul trouble and fouled out in the third quarter when Korea was trying to rally.

"I am disappointed that the game didn't go the way I wanted," Ro said. "We could have taken first place. It doesn't matter what I did in the past. I should have done the things I was supposed to."

Ro still ended the competition as Korea's top scorer with 15.1 points per game from seven contests, good for fifth overall. She was third in the tournament in field goal percentage with 55.4 percent.

Ro was one of three North Koreans on the joint team. They joined the South Koreans about two weeks before the start of the Asian Games, and skeptics said this wouldn't be enough time for the players to gel.

But Korea hardly had any issues with team chemistry. Ro started every game for Korea alongside four South Koreans and contributed on both ends of the court.

Ro thanked the supporters who filled a section of the stands at every Korean game and said, "They gave us so much energy."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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