Sabre final: another family feud! Goo Bon-gil tries to win his 4th consecutive title vs. Oh Sang-wook tries to fight back
Living legend Koo Bon-gil will attempt to win his fourth consecutive Asian Games title. Koo Bon-gil, who has never lost an individual final, will battle Oh Sang-wook for gold.
Koo Bon-gil (Korea Sports Promotion Agency) reached the final of the men’s sabre individual event at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on Friday at the Hangzhou University of Electronic Arts Gymnasium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. He will try to win his fourth consecutive Asian Games sabre individual title. His opponent is Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon City Hall), whom he met five years ago.
Koo Bon-gil won 15-10 against Kuwait’s Yousif Alsamran.
Alsamran controlled the early game. The score went down to 1-5, but as if to say, ‘I’ve taken care of the four-point deficit,’ he scored five points to turn it around.
In the process of making it 9-7, he hit the back of his opponent’s hand, causing him to lose his sword. Koo immediately made an apologetic gesture, but there were no concessions in the match. He landed the next attack, and the next, and the next, to win 11-7. In the process, a nervous battle ensued with Alsamran.
Koo Bon-gil has won three consecutive gold medals in the men’s individual sabre event, from Guangzhou 2010 to Jakarta-Palembang 2018.
In the history of the Asian Games, there is no other fencer like him. In total, Koo has won six medals at the Asian Games, five of which are gold. Three individual golds and two team golds. The other is a silver in the team event. Koo has made it to the finals every time he’s competed.
The 34-year-old veteran still has one goal in mind. Gold. “I’ll do my best to win gold,” she said when she arrived in Hangzhou.
In the quarterfinals, he faced China’s Shen Qianfeng in a close match. He was down 10-14, but quickly tied the score at 14-14, and finished off the upset drama with a final attack. It was a dramatic finish for the Asian Games favorite.
Before Koo Bon-gil, Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon City Hall) was the first to reach the final, defeating Iran’s Muhammad Rabbari Koyaki by fall.
Oh also reached the final at the last Asian Games, but had to settle for a silver medal behind Koo.
Like Koo, he has his sights set on gold. “My goal is to win gold in the individual and team events,” said Oh. We lost in Jakarta-Palembang and only got a silver medal, but this time we will do our best to manage our physical condition so that we can win the gold.” 토토사이트
His bid for gold went well. Oh defeated Uzbekistan’s Aimuratov Musa 15-11 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Oh was in a tight match early on, but he didn’t give up the lead easily. He took the lead at the 10-point mark and never looked back.
Meanwhile, fencing sabre, which Oh Sang-wook and Koo Bon-gil competed in, is the only sport that allows slashing attacks, unlike foil and epee. The entire upper body, including arms and head, can be attacked. Because of the slashing attack, the handle is characterized by a hand guard.
South Korea has won a total of 122 men’s and women’s medals at the Asian Games until the last edition in Jakarta-Palembang. China is second with 124, not far behind. Japan is third with 66.