Golds in cycling, fencing aid Korean bid for second

Korea stayed on track for its goal of a second-place finish in the Asian Games medal standings, yesterday welcoming the latest multi-gold medallist. The Korean men’s cycling track team set the Asian record in winning the team pursuit gold medal.

The foursome of Jang Sun-jae, Hwang In-hyeok, Kim Dong-hun and Park Sung-baek completed the 4-kilometer (2.5 miles) race in 4:12.746, beating the Iranian and the Chinese teams for the gold. It was the second gold in Doha for Jang, who won the individual pursuit on Sunday and will gun for a third gold in the 50-kilometer madison race tomorrow. Jang is the eighth Korean athlete to win more than two gold medals in Doha. “My teammates and I have taken part in a number of international races over the past two years, and gained valuable experience,” Jang said. “I am proud of myself and my teammates that those times weren’t wasted.” Jang’s father, Yoon-ho, is a former Asiad gold medallist himself from 1982, and was a coach for the cycling team this time. The Jangs are the first Asian Game gold medal-winning father-son duo in Korean cycling history. The cycling gold came on the heels of Korea’s second fencing title, captured by a woman fencer who had been dealing with off-field issues. Nam Hyun-hee, 25, beat her teammate Seo Mi-jung in the women’s individual foil final. With the victory, Nam achieved two things. First, it was the first individual Asiad gold for Nam, a four-time world champion who wasn’t a major part of the gold medal winning team at the 2002 Asiad. She was eliminated in the Olympic quarterfinals in Athens two years ago. Second, Nam took an important step out of the cloud that had engulfed her for nearly the entire year. Until this win, Nam had largely been known as “the fencer who underwent plastic surgery.” In January, the Korea Amateur Fencing Association suspended Nam for two years for leaving the team training camp to have surgery on her eyelids. Later, when it was discovered that Nam did have her coaching staff’s permission, and that the surgery was to give her better vision during matches, the suspension was reduced to six months. Though the association’s ostensible reason for the penalty was “for missing practice, a behavior detrimental to team unity,” the move was widely criticized by the public as being sexist and robbing Nam of her rights. Prior to her matches, Nam said she regrets the controversy, but that there is no bad publicity for a minor sport such as fencing. After her gold-medal win, Nam said, “I am glad people will pay attention to me for reasons other than the plastic surgery. I hope I can further promote our sport and put it in a more positive spotlight by taking Olympic gold and the world championships.” How did she handle the much-publicized suspension? “If you start thinking about things in a negative light, you’ll just get lazier and eventually lose your desire,” she said. “I tried to put everything in a more positive perspective, and I think I became more mature as a result.” Though Korea squeezed past Japan in the medal standings, the day wasn’t without disappointment. The women’s basketball team was crushed by China, 77-53, and will miss the gold medal game for only the second time since the sport became a medal event at the 1974 Asiad in Tehran. The Koreans got off to a poor start, allowing a 13-0 run to open the game. They were outrebounded 40 to 26, and made just three of 24 shots from 3-point range. China outscored Korea in the paint, 42-22. Chinese center Chen Nan scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. She hit 10 of 16 field goal attempts. The loss sends Korea to the bronze medal match against Japan early Friday. Korea also lost to China in the gold medal game at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan. Afterward, coach Yoo Soo-jong lamented the lack of veteran leadership on a team that was missing national team fixtures such as center Jung Sun-min and point guard Jeon Joo-won. They were not picked for the Doha Games as the squad went with a younger lineup. The team also was short-handed due to injuries to Lee Kyung-eun and Choi Youn-ah. “Since we were the much smaller team, I wanted our players to execute a motion offense utilizing our speed, but it didn’t quite work out,” Yoo said. “I think our players’ lack of experience affected their confidence level. They played timidly.” Yoo said the absence of a veteran point guard like Jeon hurt the most because “Without chances created from the point guard position, we didn’t have a lot of open looks.” Against China, starting point guard Kim Eun-hye missed all six field goal attempts and had just one assist. The Korean men’s handball team, the five-time defending Asiad gold medallist, bowed out to host Qatar 40-28 in the semifinal. The game was marred by controversial officiating, which disallowed several Korean goals. The Korean delegation submitted a formal letter of protest to the Olympic Council of Asia and the Asian Handball Federation. by Yoo Jee-ho