'Lightning Man'Lee Junhwan, with a cool win'Going to the quarterfinals'...Kim Ji-Soo lost one round and went to the semifinals

Jul 30, 2024

'Lightning Man'Lee Junhwan, with a cool win'Going to the quarterfinals'...Kim Ji-Soo lost one round and went to the semifinals
'Lightning Man'Lee Junhwan, with a cool win'Going to the quarterfinals'...Kim Ji-Soo lost one round and went to the semifinals
'Lightning Man' Lee Joon-hwan (22, Yongin University) made it to the quarterfinals with a single victory.

Lee Joon-hwan won against Israel's Seigi Mookie in the men's 81-kg judo round of 16 at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Chandmars Stadium in Paris, France on the 30th (Korea time). Lee Joon-hwan, ranked third in the world, made a strong advance to the medal by reaching the quarterfinals.

Lee Joon-hwan, who reached the round of 16 with a half-win against Accraf Muti (Morocco) in the previous round of 32, confirmed his advance to the quarterfinals with a single victory by quickly putting his opponent in the meth at the Golden Score.

Lee Jun-hwan is one of the dark horses in this tournament. He appeared like a comet in the international judo community in June last year. In the final of the International Judo Federation (IJF) Tbilisi Grand Slam, his first senior international competition, he beat Tato Grigalashvili (No. 2 in the world) and won the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam 20 days later by defeating the gold and bronze medalists at the Tokyo Olympics.

IJF added the modifier 'Lightning Man' to Lee Joon-hwan's play, which does not miss the opponent's gaps and actively penetrates them. IFJ praised 'Very fast enough to win a round even before the introduction of the player is over.

Lee Joon-hwan changed the way he played ahead of this tournament. This is to fix the appearance that bold plays are rather used against the opponent. The recent painful defeat by Gri-Galashvili, who beat him in his first international competition, was the main trigger.

Lee Jun-hwan, who showed a strong performance from the first round, took on a medal challenge. Kim Joon-hwan, who started judo at his father's recommendation when he was in elementary school, changed his life after receiving 'A bag of rice' as a prize for winning a local competition. He is determined to succeed in this competition and give 'one cow' \.

'Lightning Man'Lee Junhwan, with a cool win'Going to the quarterfinals'...Kim Ji-Soo lost one round and went to the semifinals
On the other hand, the women's 63 kg class Kim Ji-soo lost to Croatia's Katarina Christo in the quarterfinals. He led the game with an aggressive attack early on, but allowed an unexpected round at the Golden Score. In the round of 16, he gained momentum by winning half of the game by missing world No. 1 Joanna van Rishout (the Netherlands), but unfortunately failed to advance to the semifinals.

Kim Ji-soo is a third-generation Korean-Japanese born in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Influenced by Kim Deok-je, a judo player-turned-father, he started judo in the first grade of elementary school. Kim Ji-soo has stood out since his first year of high school, winning the national championship as a school representative. He won both weight classes and was called the `Judicrous Genius.' Although she was called a Japanese high school judo star, Kim Ji-soo pursued her roots.

After graduating, he returned to Korea and joined the Gyeongbuk Sports Council. The address was also moved to Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, the hometown of my father and grandfather. In Japan, it was a natural choice for Kim Ji-soo, who only used the name Kim Ji-soo. He became the first Korean-Japanese female player to wear the national flag in 2020. He also participated in the Tokyo Games, but unfortunately stayed in the round of 16.

Kim Ji-soo has been on a good track recently, ranking first in the 2023 and 2024 Grand Slam and third in the 2024 Asian Judo Championships, and was considered a dark horse for the medal in this tournament.





vanbasten@sportschosun.com