Heo Jun, Ha Tae Kyu, Lee Kwang Hyun, Lim Chul Woo upset to win gold
'First individual gold medal in 45 years' for Park Woo-hyuk
Park Woo-hyuk wins men's taekwondo 80kg title
Heo Jun, right, scores South Korea's 45th point against China's Chen Haiwei during the men's flechette team final at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sunday. With the 45-38 victory, the South Korean men's foil team won its second straight Asian Games team title.
South Korea's men's foil fencing team won its second consecutive team title at the Asian Games, avenging the disappointment of an individual medal defeat.
The men's sabre team of Heo Jun (35), Ha Tae-gyu (34), Lee Kwang-hyun (30) and Lim Chul-woo (30) beat China 45-38 in the team final at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sunday. It was their second consecutive title, following their victory at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. Korean fencing won its 50th gold medal at the Asian Games.
South Korea trailed 20-25 going into the fifth period. It was Heo Jun, the team's most experienced fencer and ace, who started the comeback. In the sixth period, He scored six straight points against China's Wu Bing (25) to take a 26-25 lead. The game remained close, and the seventh period ended in a 33-33 tie. In the eighth period, Lee Kwang-hyun stepped to the piste to make it 40-36. South Korea never relinquished the lead. Heo Jun was the finisher, scoring the 45th goal of the game.
After the game, Heo Jun said, "It was my last game and I'm so happy to come out on top. It's unbelievable," Heo said after the game, adding, "It's my second straight Asian Games. I feel like I'm going to cry." He announced his retirement from the national team after the Asian Games.
The men's flechette team won gold in the team event, making up for a disappointing individual performance three days earlier. South Korea did not win a medal in the men's individual foil event on Thursday. It was the first time in 45 years since the 1978 Bangkok Games that Korean men's fencing had not medaled in the individual foil event at an Asian Games.
Taekwondo gold for fourth straight day South Korea's Park Woo-hyuk (right) defeated Jordan's Saleh Al-Sharabati 2-0 (8-5, 6-5) in the 80 kg men's taekwondo final at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sunday. The victory gave South Korea a gold medal for the fourth consecutive day since the taekwondo competition schedule began on Sept. 24.
In taekwondo, Park Woo-hyuk (23, Samsung SDI) won a gold medal. Park defeated Jordan's Salih Elsharabati 2-0 (8-5, 6-5) in the men's 80 kg category. Elsharabati, a silver medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, was the favorite to win the tournament. It has been 21 years since South Korean taekwondo has won a gold medal in this weight class (78 kg until Doha 2006) since the 2002 Busan Games, when it was omitted. "I'm very happy to have taken a step towards making Korean taekwondo highly regarded again on such a big stage," Park Woo-hyuk said after his victory, adding, "I still haven't qualified for next year's Paris Olympics. I will work hard to prepare for the remaining Grand Prix competitions so that I can compete in the Olympics." With the victory, South Korea won its fourth consecutive gold medal on the 24th day of taekwondo competition at the Games, bringing its total to five gold medals (two in Poomsae and three in Kukkiwon). 스포츠토토링크