By Seol Ha-eun – Hangzhou Commonwealth Foundation = The Korean men’s wheelchair fencing team took home a valuable bronze medal at the ParaAsian Games.
The Korean men’s wheelchair fencing team defeated India 45-29 in the bronze medal match of the sabre team event at the Hangzhou 2022 Para-Asian Games on Thursday at the Hangzhou University of Electronic Arts Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
The bronze medal was a welcome relief after a lack of focus in the semifinals against Thailand.
Kim Gun-wan (Sport Class A-Chungnam Para Fencing Association), Ryu Eun-hwan (Sport Class B-Lotte Holdings), Lee Jin-sol (Sport Class A-Colon FNC), and Choi Gun-woo (Sport Class A-Gwangju Para Fencing Association), the eldest brother, combined to give Korea its first medal of the Games.
“I was nervous in the semifinals, but as I played, my body relaxed and I was able to attack smoothly,” said Lee Jin-sol after the match. I followed the coaches’ instructions and stretched my arms confidently, which led to a good result.” “I tried to find the gaps in my opponent’s defense. “I tried to find the gaps in my opponent’s defense, and I’m happy that my teammates made it happen.
Kim Gun-wan scored three consecutive points to start the game, and Lee Jin-sol also set the tone in the second round with a quick attack that didn’t allow his opponent to score a single point.
Later, Ryu Eun-hwan and Kim Gun-wan overpowered their opponents with their speed, and Korea extended its lead to 15 points.
While Korea seemed to be dominating the game, there was a crisis.
After losing eight consecutive points in the middle of the game, they were down to four points at one point, but Lee Jin-sol showed his dominance in the sixth game and quickly scored five points.
With the momentum on their side, the Koreans were able to extend their lead back to double digits, driving a wedge into the match and securing a valuable bronze medal.
“We were disappointed to lose to Thailand in the quarterfinals and miss out on the final, but it feels good to have rewarded the players’ hard work with a bronze medal,” said Park Kyu-hwa, head coach of the wheelchair fencing team. “We were able to win the game by setting the tone early on. We will work hard to prepare for the remaining matches and do our best to achieve good results.”
South Korea failed to reach the final in the semifinal against Thailand earlier in the day due to a lack of backbone.
Trailing by 13 points in the fifth round, Lee Jin-sol scored back-to-back points with a quick poke to close the gap, and Choi Gun-woo, who embarrassed his opponent by attacking right after the referee’s signal to resume play, drew a penalty to make it 27-30.
However, from the seventh round onward, Thailand again took control of the game and the score gap widened to more than 10 points, and they failed to advance to the final. 스포츠토토