The Korean women’s basketball team, which will participate in the preliminary qualifying round for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, will convene on Saturday and begin a five-week strengthening training session. It is the first international competition under coach Park Soo-ho and coach Yang Ji-hee.
The regional qualifying round, which includes the women’s team, will be held in Mexico City, Mexico, from August 19 to 25. A total of 16 countries, including the regional qualifying round held in Kigali, Rwanda, will participate, and the two countries that ranked first in each region through the group stage and tournament will be given tickets to participate in the final qualifying round for the World Cup scheduled for March 2026.
The women’s team was in Group A along with Mali, the Czech Republic, and Venezuela. Up to the second place in Group A will advance to the tournament, and the team that survived to the end in Mexico City through the semifinals and the final will head to the final qualifying round for the World Cup.
Just like the men’s team ahead of its warm-up match against Japan, the women’s team also had difficulty finding a training site. Jincheon National Training Center was informed that the national basketball team would not be allowed to use the team due to overlapping preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The men’s team, with cooperation from Goyang Sono and Goyang City, moved to Japan after training at Goyang Sono Arena Practice Gymnasium. 동행복권파워볼
The women’s national team also found a training site after the Korea Basketball Association looked for it. However, there is also a period of undecidedness. The women’s national team will hold reinforcement training at Incheon Dowon Gymnasium, the home ground of Shinhan Bank in Incheon, from the 10th to the 20th. Thanks to Shinhan Bank’s relocation of accommodation to Shinhan Bank’s Blue Campus in Giheung-gu, Yongin last year, the women’s national team can use it as a training site.
Incheon Dowon Gymnasium cannot be used for five weeks due to the conditions of renting a gym. The women’s team will continue its training sessions at the men’s pro team’s practice gym. They will use the SK Training Center in Seoul, which is closed for training camp from August 22 to 27, and the Samsung Training Center in Seoul, which is on vacation from August 29 to August 3. All they have to do is find a gym for the women’s team from August 5 to 15, the eve of their departure.
As the administrative procedures are handled by the Korea Basketball Association, the women’s national team plans to stick to its original duty of training. The women’s national team will have 11 members except Park Ji-hyun of Bankstown who plays in the Australian NBL1. Park Ji-soo of Galatasaray, who played in the Turkish league, will also join the women’s team after improving his condition through individual training.
Park Ji-hyun will play her last regular league game against the Sutherland Sharks on the 14th after her team Bankstown failed to advance to the playoffs. She will return to Korea on the 15th, the next day, and join the women’s national team on the 16th or 17th.
“We are constantly monitoring the conditions of players in their respective team training,” coach Park Soo-ho said. As of today (June 6), some teams have increased their training intensity by 70 to 80 percent. In the first week of training, they will unlikely be able to perform 5:5 on their own. In the morning, they will engage in weight training and defense training with 1:1 or 2:2 without getting hurt. In the afternoon, they will also engage in running and outnumber training with minimal physical contact. They will engage in training like this for now at Dodon Gymnasium,” he said.
Coach Park Soo-ho also said, “I’m half excited and half worried, but I hope that an environment will be created where players can enjoy training in the national team. The coaches who led the national team did a good job, but I want to create a new national team. To put it into words, it’s a cheerful team. Whether it’s a 3-point shot, a breakthrough, or a defense, I want to play basketball based on my activities. I will make good team colors.”