South Korea's PUBG Mobile esports team won the opening match of the second day of the finals but failed to win a medal.
The team, led by head coach Yoon Sang-hoon, added 33 points on the second day of the PUBG Mobile finals at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held on Sept. 29 at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It finished sixth with 71 points. The squad had aimed for a second consecutive medal after taking silver at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games but fell short of the podium.
The finals featured 12 countries playing six matches a day over two days, for a total of 12 matches, with rankings determined by cumulative points. Korea sat sixth with 38 points after the first day. The team won the opening match of the second day to begin its chase but could not close the gap afterward. In PUBG, a first-place finish triggers the message "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!"
Korea found momentum in Match 7, the first game of the second day. Avoiding risky firefights early and focusing on survival, the team reached the top four with all four players alive. It then won its final engagement against China for six kills and survived to the end, taking the win for 10 placement points and 16 points in total. It was the team's first match victory of the tournament.
The momentum broke from Match 8. Korea was overpowered in firefights against China and others, gaining neither kills nor placement points. In the following match, the team kept its squad intact until midway but recorded no kills, and its movements overlapped with several other countries inside the shrinking play zone. Korea finished seventh for just one placement point. With only one point added across the two matches, catching up to medal contention became difficult.
Korea tried to fight back again. It defeated Taiwan and Vietnam in succession and moved into the safe zone, adding seven points with three kills and a fourth-place finish. But it came under attack from Indonesia while securing a better position and was wiped out, ending the comeback attempt.
There was no improvement in the final two matches. Korea recorded four kills against Uzbekistan but lost one player in a firefight and could not overcome being a man down, finishing eighth for just five points. In the last match, the team reached the top four with three players alive but was eliminated by a Chinese attack. It added four placement points with no kills.
Korea closed the tournament with 71 points, adding 33 on the second day to the 38 from the first. Thailand won gold with 128 points, while China took silver with 114 and Pakistan bronze with 100.
