Women's foil team also advances to final, set to face Japan
South Korea's men's sabre fencing team has advanced to the Asian Games team final, where it will bid for a fourth consecutive gold medal.
The squad — Oh Sang-uk, Park Sang-won (both of Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall), Do Gyeong-dong (Daegu Metropolitan City Hall) and Hwang Hui-geun (Korea National Sport University) — defeated Hong Kong 45-24 in the team semifinal Saturday at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
South Korea is chasing four consecutive Asian Games men's sabre team titles, having won gold at the 2014 Incheon, 2018 Jakarta-Palembang and 2022 Hangzhou Games.
The final is scheduled for 6:20 p.m., with South Korea set to face the winner of the Japan-Kazakhstan semifinal.
Oh, who won the individual title at this year's Games, is also pursuing back-to-back Asian Games doubles — having claimed both the individual and team gold at Hangzhou as well.
Team event brackets are seeded based on individual results. South Korea received the top seed, earning a bye in the round of 16 before defeating India 45-25 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinal against Hong Kong, Park set the tone with a 5-2 win over Hugo Ho in the opening bout. Oh then extended the lead to 10-5 against Aaron Ho in the second round, and Do pushed it further to 15-9 against Royce Chan in the third, sealing a comfortable victory.
The women's foil team also reached the final, beating China 43-35 in their semifinal.
The squad — Park Ji-hee, Shim So-eun (both of Seoul Metropolitan City Hall), Mo Byeol-i (Incheon Yeongjong-gu District Office) and Lee Se-ju (North Chungcheong Province Office) — will face Japan in the final at 5:20 p.m.
South Korea won five consecutive Asian Games women's foil team titles from the 1998 Bangkok Games through the 2014 Incheon Games, but settled for bronze at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and silver at the 2022 Hangzhou Games. The team now has a chance to reclaim the top of the podium for the first time in 12 years.
yuni@heraldcorp.com
