(Olympics) fencing-gold medal
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| ▲ South Korean fencers Kim Jung-hwan, Oh Sang-uk, Kim Jun-ho and Gu Bon-gil (clockwise from L) celebrate their victory over Italy in the final of the men's team sabre fencing event at the Tokyo Olympics at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, Japan, on July 28, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Oh Sang-uk of South Korea (L) celebrates a point against Enrico Berre of Italy in the final of the men's team sabre fencing event at the Tokyo Olympics at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, Japan, on July 28, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Gu Bon-gil of South Korea (R) battles Luca Curatoli of Italy in the final of the men's team sabre fencing event at the Tokyo Olympics at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, Japan, on July 28, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Kim Jun-ho of South Korea (R) takes on Enrico Berre of Italy in the final of the men's team sabre fencing event at the Tokyo Olympics at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, Japan, on July 28, 2021. (Yonhap) |
(Olympics) fencing-gold medal
(Olympics) 'Avengers' of S. Korean fencing team up to win ultimate prize
By Yoo Jee-ho
CHIBA, Japan, July 28 (Yonhap) -- They walked into the arena to the theme music of "Star Wars" blaring through the speakers. And the South Korean fencers collectively called "The Avengers" used their swords to conquer the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
They may not have superpowers of the Marvel heroes but Kim Jung-hwan, Gu Bon-gil, Oh Sang-uk and Kim Jun-ho of the men's sabre fencing team have done some great things together.
And their biggest prize to date came on Wednesday at the Tokyo Olympics, in the form of their first Olympic gold medal, thanks to a convincing 45-26 victory over Italy.
Kim Jung-hwan and Gu had won the 2012 Olympic team gold together, but it wasn't until Oh and Kim Jun-ho joined them that the sabre team truly turned into a global force.
A team match is made up of nine individual bouts fought by three fencers. Each member of a team faces each member of the other team once, and teams can also use a substitute.
A head-to-head bout lasts three minutes or until one team's score reaches a multiple of five.
The objective is to get to 45 points first or to have more points than the opposition by the end of the ninth bout.
South Korea came in ranked world No. 1 in the men's team sabre. These four fencers won the 2017 and 2018 world titles together, as well as the 2018 Asian Games gold medal.
On Wednesday at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, east of Tokyo, they dispatched Egypt 45-39 in the quarterfinals, and then emerged from a tough semifinals match against Germany with a 45-42 victory.
The resounding victory over Italy was somewhat anti-climactic.
South Korea built a 20-7 lead after four bouts. Even after Oh lost the sixth bout 6-5, South Korea still led 30-17.
Oh then took South Korea home by securing the final five points.
Oh, holding down the No. 1 spot in individual rankings, had been expected to win the individual gold on Saturday. He got tripped up in the quarterfinals in his Olympic debut, and later talked about fighting jitters, an unusual admission for such an accomplished athlete with a wealth of experience elsewhere.
He redeemed himself in the team final. Kim Jung-hwan only beat Luca Curatoli by 5-4 in the opening bout, and Oh helped swing the pendulum in South Korea's favor by shutting out Aldo Montano 5-0 in the second bout.
This is a particularly gratifying result for Oh, who had a bout with COVID-19 that knocked him out for a month earlier this year.
Gu, world No. 9, also disappointed in the individual event, getting knocked out in the round of 32. But he proved his mettle in the team final by winning all three of his bouts.
Kim Jung-hwan, the elder statesman at 37, is the smallest of the bunch at 178 centimeters but uses his speed and guile to have his way around bigger opponents. He now has four Olympic medals, the two team gold medals and two individual bronze medals over the past three Olympics.
Kim Jun-ho was the substitute here but won his only bout handily, 5-1. He is the lowest-ranked member of the team at No. 20, but he can more than hold his own against anyone. Should Kim Jung-hwan decide to go out on top, Kim Jun-ho will be ready to step in.
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