A little-known sport in South Korea is about to step onto one of Asia’s biggest sporting stages—and Korea’s representatives are not going to Japan simply to make up the numbers.
Teqball will make its Asian Games debut at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Games this month, with South Korea targeting podium finishes across all three events it is eligible to enter.
The sport, which blends elements of football, table tennis and freestyle skills, is played on a specially curved table. Players can use almost every part of their body to control and return a football, but hands and arms are prohibited.
And for Korea’s four-person team, the Asian Games represent much more than another tournament.
A New Sport, a Major Opportunity
South Korea’s teqball team consists of Lee Jun-suk, Lee Tae-been, Kim Eun-jun and Jang Eun-seo.
Team captain Lee Jun-suk will compete in men’s singles and men’s doubles alongside Lee Tae-been. Kim Eun-jun and Jang Eun-seo will form Korea’s mixed-doubles pairing.
Korea’s ambition is striking: reach the podium in every event it enters, with Lee Jun-suk regarded as one of the country’s strongest medal prospects in men’s singles.
The challenge, however, is that teqball remains relatively unfamiliar to the Korean public.
South Korea only began competing internationally in the sport in 2019, while teqball itself was first created in Hungary in 2014. The International Teqball Federation, or FITEQ, now has more than 150 member federations, reflecting the sport’s rapid international expansion.
What Exactly Is Teqball?
Think of it as football skills meeting table tennis—with a heavy dose of acrobatics.
The curved table changes the trajectory of the ball, requiring players to anticipate unusual rebounds and maintain exceptional control.
Under FITEQ’s current rules, matches are best-of-three sets, with each set played to 12 points. Players can return the ball with a maximum of three touches, while touching the ball with the same body part twice consecutively is prohibited. Doubles teams must also pass the ball to their partner before returning it.
The rules were updated for 2026. Among the changes, service switches now occur after every two points, while athletes are permitted two smashes per set that send the ball outside the field of play.
Those details can make the sport surprisingly tactical despite its spectacular appearance.
Korea’s Athletes Have Made a Major Sacrifice
For Korea’s players, the Asian Games preparation has come at a personal cost.
According to Yonhap, the athletes left their regular jobs after teqball was added to the Asian Games programme in February.
Lee Jun-suk had been working as a contract employee at LG Electronics and was reportedly on a path toward becoming a permanent employee. Lee Tae-been put his career as a jewelry designer on hold, while Kim Eun-jun had been working for a pharmaceutical company and playing foot volleyball.
Their coach, Lee Yong-seop, spent roughly two decades working as a football coach before becoming secretary-general of the Korea Teqball Association and later taking charge of the national team.
The team’s backgrounds also highlight why teqball can attract athletes from different sports.
Lee Jun-suk and Kim grew up playing football, while Jang Eun-seo has a background in sepaktakraw, another sport combining football-style skills with volleyball elements.
Recent Results Offer Korea Some Hope
Korea is not entering the Asian Games completely untested.
The men’s doubles team reached the quarterfinals of the Teqball Tour Dezhou event in China in June, while the mixed-doubles pairing reached the round of 16.
Then, in August, both Korean men’s doubles and mixed doubles advanced to the quarterfinals of the Beach Teqball International Cup in Rushan, China.
Those results do not guarantee medals in Nagoya, but they provide evidence that Korea’s players can compete against established international opponents.
Five Gold Medals Are Up for Grabs
Teqball will offer five medal events at Aichi-Nagoya:
- Men’s singles
- Women’s singles
- Men’s doubles
- Women’s doubles
- Mixed doubles
However, each National Olympic Committee can enter athletes in a maximum of three events, meaning Korea will contest men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.
The sport’s inclusion is itself a milestone.
FITEQ announced in February that teqball had officially been added as a medal sport for the 20th Asian Games, following appearances at other major Asian multi-sport competitions.
The OCA has also highlighted teqball as one of the notable additions to the Aichi-Nagoya programme. The 2026 Asian Games will feature 43 sports and 71 disciplines, with athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees expected to compete.
The Countdown Is Almost Over
The Asian Games opening ceremony is scheduled for September 19, but teqball gets underway even earlier.
According to FITEQ, the teqball competition begins September 17, with all five finals scheduled for September 20 at Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center.
That gives Korea’s four athletes a short window to turn years of preparation—and some extraordinary career sacrifices—into a breakthrough moment.
For Lee Jun-suk, Lee Tae-been, Kim Eun-jun and Jang Eun-seo, a medal would mean more than a place on the Asian Games podium.
It could help introduce an unfamiliar sport to an entirely new Korean audience.
And if Korea’s ambitious goal of reaching the podium in every event comes true, teqball’s Asian Games debut could suddenly become one of the country’s most unexpected sporting stories of September.
Why This Story Matters
Teqball’s Asian Games debut is part of a broader push to establish the sport within Asia’s major competitive landscape. FITEQ says the sport has already featured as a medal discipline at the SEA Games, Asian Youth Games and 2026 Asian Beach Games, with the Asian Games representing another significant step in its expansion.
For Korea, meanwhile, the immediate objective is clear: turn an unfamiliar sport into an unexpected medal opportunity.
The first chance arrives on September 17.
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