Korean fencing, on the second day 'empty hand'..Men's epee Kim Jae-won, even in the 'fire chase', 32nd round 'Exit'
Jul 28, 2024
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On the first day of Korean fencing, Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall) of the men's sabre won the individual competition. Oh Sang-wook defeated Tunisia's Fares Perjani 15-11 in the men's sabre individual final at the 2024 Paris Olympics held in Grand Palais, Paris, France on the 28th (Korea time). Oh Sang-wook, who stayed in the quarterfinals at the last Tokyo Games, stood at the top of the Olympic podium after three years of desperation.
It was the gold medal of the 'first, first, first'. Oh Sang-wook became the winner of the gold medal in the Paris Olympics, the Korean team 'First'. On the first day of the full-fledged medal race after the opening ceremony, it gave a pleasant gold medal to the South Korean team, which had previously harvested silver and bronze medals. Oh Sang-wook became the Olympic gold medalist in the men's sabre individual event 'First'. Previously, the bronze medal won by Kim Jung-hwan in the 2016 Rio Games, the last Tokyo Games, and two Olympics was the best. It is the fourth time that Korean fencing has won the individual event, following Kim Young-ho, who won the Sydney men's foil gold medal in 2000, Kim Ji-yeon, who won a surprise gold medal in the London women's sabre in 2012, and Park Sang-young, who impressed the Rio men's epee in 2016.
With this gold medal, Oh has become a grand slammer in the individual competition of 'First'. Oh Sang-wook, who won the 2019 Asian Championship, the World Championship, and the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, even won the final puzzle Olympic gold medal, achieving the dignity of the individual Grand Slam. Oh Sang-wook is the first Korean player to reach the Grand Slam in an individual competition. Oh Sang-wook, who succeeded in the Grand Slam early in the team event, rose to the rank of the Sabres 'GOAT' in name and reality.
Korean fencing, which gained momentum, competed in the second men's epee individual event. The women's individual foil event was also held on this day, but Kim Jae-won (Seo-gu Office, Gwangju) was the only Korean player in both events.
Securing a team competition ticket is a priority for the fencing Olympics. Through the team's world ranking and regional ranking, eight teams will participate in the men's and women's sabre, epee, and foil team events, and these teams can send three players to individual events in the event. If he fails to qualify for the team event, he must try to participate in the individual event based on the individual world ranking in the region.
In South Korea, neither the men's epee nor the women's foil were qualified for the team event, and through individual rankings, Kim Jae-won will play only in the men's epee individual event. The women's foil had no individual players.
Kim Jae-won, ranked 54th in the world by himself, did well, but unfortunately, he was eliminated from the round of 32. Kim Jae-won lost 12-14 to Kano Koki of Japan in the men's epee individual round of 32 at the Paris Olympics held in Grand Palais, Paris, France on the 28th.
It was a close game in the early stages, but it was a 3-6 double score at the end of the second period, and while pushing Kano into the third period, he was attacked by a series of counterattacks and dragged 3-8. After falling behind 6-12 with 27 seconds left, he followed up with 12-13 a second before the end, but there was not enough time to turn the tide.
Korean fencing will continue its medal hunt in the women's sabre and men's individual foil events on the 29th. Yoon Ji-soo, Jeon Ha-young (Seoul Metropolitan Government), Choi Se-bin (Jeonnam Provincial Government), and Ha Tae-kyu (Chungnam Sports Council) will participate in the men's individual foil event.
vanbasten@sportschosun.com
