Big wins for Korea at Universiade
The women’s football team celebrates its 4-1 win over rival Japan in the finals of the 2009 Universiade Games in Belgrade, Serbia, on Saturday. [YONHAP]
Korea had an impressive weekend in Belgrade, Serbia, as the 2009 Universiade Games neared its finish.
Yesterday, the archery team managed four gold medals and the men’s judo team defeated the Russian squad to earn a gold in team competition.
On Saturday, the women’s football team made history by defeating Japan in the finals.
Kim Yae-seul of Kyung Hee University earned the distinction of becoming the only Korean athlete to earn three gold medals at the Universiade Games.
She won one gold in the mixed recurve competition on Saturday, and won two golds yesterday, one in the women’s recurve team competition and one in the individual recurve competition
Kim defeated teammate Kim Yoo-mi in the individual recurve. The final between the two female Korean archers went down to the wire as the two, who were tied at 112, headed into a shoot-off.
In the first round of the shoot-off both archers managed to hit all 10 targets, but in the second Kim Yae-seul came out on top, defeating her teammate 10-9.
Both the men’s and women’s recurve teams won gold, and archer Seok Ji-hyeon added another gold in the women’s compound event.
The men’s judo team defeated Russia in the finals. Wang Ki-chun and Kim Sung-min won their second gold medals of the games, Wang in the 73 kilograms division and Kim in the open weight division.
The women’s judo team came up short against Japan and had to settle for silver.
Kim Dal-eun of Songwoun University became the lone Korean swimmer to win a medal in Belgrade. Kim won a silver medal in the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 31.57, a mere 0.02 seconds behind the leader.
In tennis, the duo of Kim Hyun-joon and Kim So-jung defeated the Taiwanese team to earn a silver in the mixed doubles tennis event.
Kim Duk-hyeon finished third in the long jump competition, recording 7.82 meters on his top jump.
Korea’s track team has yet to win any medals at the 2009 Universiade Games, and Kim offers a slim hope of a last minute medal win.
The biggest news of Saturday was the women’s football team, which defeated Japan 4-1 to earn its first gold at a Universiade competition.
The previous best for a Korean women’s football team was a third place finish at the 2001 Beijing Universiade.
“We’ve never had such an easy victory over Japan in the past,” stated the team manager Ahn Ik-soo. “I hope the win generates increased interest in the sport of women’s football.”
In a game in which Korea dominated on both sides of the field from beginning to end, Korea got two goals apiece from Ji So-yeon and Chun Ga-eul to cruise to an impressive victory.
Ji scored the first goal of the game off an arching free kick in the 24th minute. She went on to win recognition as the game’s most valuable player.
As of yesterday, Korea is in fourth place overall with 20 gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze medals.
Japan is in third place with 20 gold, 21 silver and 31 bronze medals.
By Jason Kim [jason@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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