
It’s the quarterfinals.
The men’s and women’s fencing teams are in action on the first day of the fencing competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Sunday (Feb. 27) at the fencing center in Grand Palais, France. The day’s events include the women’s epee and men’s sabre. Song Sera (Busan City Hall), Kang Young-mi (Gwangju Seo-gu Office) and Lee Hye-in (Gangwon-do Provincial Office) are competing in the women’s epee. In the men’s sabre individual competition, Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon City Hall), Park Sang-won (Daejeon City Hall) and Koo Bon-gil (Kumin Sports Corporation) competed.
The epee and sabre individual competitions will be held in a single day, with the round of 32, round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. France, the host country of the Games, is a fencing powerhouse. Modern fencing began as a sport in France, which is why fencing competitions are held in French. France, along with Italy, is a fencing powerhouse and the sport is incredibly popular. In fact, fencing is one of the most popular Olympic sports in France.
Fencing, meanwhile, is also a filial sport for South Korea, which has won three consecutive gold medals in recent Olympics. The country hasn’t won an individual gold medal since Park Sang-young won a medal at Rio de Janeiro 2016. Earlier in the day, Song Sera, Kang Young-mi, and Lee Hye-in performed well in the women’s individual epee, qualifying for the round of 32.
In the women’s epee earlier in the day, all Korean players fell. Kang Young-mi, ranked 21st in the world, fought hard against Nellie Dippert (Estonia, World No. 12) in the round of 32, but lost 13-14 in overtime. The last of the Korean women to compete, World No. 15 Lee Hye-in, fell 13-15 in the round of 32 against Yu Shihan (China, World No. 18).
Women’s National Team ace Song Sera held a consistent lead against World No. 26 Martyna Szbatowska-Bęglaczyk (POL) to take the match 15-11. In the round of 16, she was eliminated by a dominant Muhari Ester (HUN, World No. 10), 6-15.
In the men’s fencing, Oh Sang-wook and Park Sang-won advanced to the round of 32 without their eldest brother Koo Bon-gil. Oh met Ali Fakdaman (Iran, World No. 14) in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals. Oh Sang-wook showed a better side after his victory. After a slow first period in which he was down three points, Oh regrouped and quickly turned the game around. He scored back-to-back points to end the first period with an 8-7 lead.
In the second period, Oh showed his true colors. He took advantage of his opponent’s 파워볼사이트 추천 over-analyzing to score with a fierce poke. With the score at 14-10 less than 30 seconds into the second period, Oh extended the lead to 15-10 with an accurate poke with 2:34 left in the period.
Meanwhile, in the round of 32, World No. 28 Park Sang-won (KOR) pulled off an upset against World No. 5 Colin Hitchcock (USA) but fell in the round of 16. In the round of 16, he took the lead against Sen Chenfeng (CHN), ranked 21st in the world, but was disappointed with his late game execution.
Oh Sang-wook fought a close match against Pares Arpa, who held the silage. A back-and-forth battle ensued. Oh took the lead, but world No. 27 Pares was not to be denied. He fought hard to keep up with the opponent, and after a back-and-forth battle, Oh finished the first period with an 8-5 lead and a three-point advantage.
The second period started with an 8-5 lead for Oh Sang-wook, but Pares fought back fiercely. After Pares tied the game, Oh continued to play a seesaw game, refusing to fall behind. With the score tied at 12-12, the game was on the line. Oh scored two quick points in two seconds to take a 14-12 lead. Pares pulled one back, but Oh calmly made the final stab to secure a 15-13 victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.
The other favorites, Silaj and Bajaj, were eliminated in the round of 32 and 16, respectively. It will be interesting to see if Oh will be able to pull off the golden stroke of his dreams and win the gold medal he narrowly missed at the Tokyo Olympics.