Net losses hit home in Hangzhou

The return to the continental throne in Hangzhou will motivate his team to push even harder to fight for more glory at next summer's Paris Olympics, said South Korea head coach Kim Hak-kyun.

"This win is thanks to the determination, mentality and unity of our players," said the former two-time Olympian. "They are at their peak, but we are still moving forward and our target is beyond Asia and looking at the Olympics."

Since a dominant run of five team golds from 1998 to 2014, China's women have endured a nine-year title drought at the Asiad, beaten by Japan in 2018, with a lack of mental toughness from key players such as Chen and He often costing China in clutch moments.

Home-court advantage turned into a heavy burden on Sunday, with the Chinese players feeling the weight of expectations on their shoulders, according to singles coach Xia Xuanze.

"Because we are playing at home, in an event that happens just every four years, of course we faced a lot of pressure," said the 2003 men's world champion. "At key moments we couldn't grasp our opportunities, our athletes wanted it too much to play at their best."

The main takeaway for China's world No 2 singles ace Chen was her lack of adaptability under pressure.

"Mentally I have a lot of work to do," she said.

"When things didn't go my way, I kind of got stuck and couldn't get the best out of myself, nor could I adapt to my opponent's style. I need to toughen up quickly for next year's Olympics," said the 25-year-old native of Hangzhou.

At last month's world championships in Denmark, Team China bagged only one gold, in women's doubles, from five events, to bring home its thinnest haul from the tournament in recent years.

Chen said the Chinese players are determined to rebuild their confidence in this week's singles and doubles competitions.