Team Korea takes gold, bronze on Games’ day 5
Published: 01 Aug. 2012, 20:16
The final of the men’s under-81-kilogram judo turned out to be a rematch of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with Kim up against Germany’s Ole Bischof.
But the outcome this time was not the same, with Kim winning with two yukos, revenging his defeat four years ago and earning the nation its first gold medal in judo at the London Games.
Team Korea was close to grabbing another medal in judo when Joung Da-woon, ranked No. 11 in the world, upset top-seed and two-time world champion Yoshie Ueno of Japan in the quarterfinals of the women’s under-63-kilogram division.
But the 23-year-old lost to China’s Xu Lili in the semis and then came up short against Gevrise Emane of France in the bronze medal contest.
In fencing, Choi Byung-chul took Korea’s first medal in the event at London after beating Andrea Baldini of Italy 15-14 in the third-place match of the men’s individual foil. This was the first time since the 2000 Sydney Olympics that Korea has won a medal in the sport.
Choi’s victory comes after female epee fencer Shin A-lam’s semifinal loss due to a disputed decision regarding the clock management.
Korea’s table tennis run ended with no medals in the individual event as Kim Kyung-ah was defeated by Singapore’s Feng Tianwei in the women’s single quarterfinals. The 35-year-old veteran was the only medal hopeful for Korea after Joo Sae-hyuk, Oh Sang-eun and Park Mi-young were all eliminated in early knockout stages.
The team event’s preliminary round begins on Friday with Ryu Seung-min and Seok Ha-jung competing for Korea.
In archery, where the women’s team already won gold and the men’s team took bronze, the individual competition went smoothly for the Koreans.
Archer Kim Bub-min joined teammate Im Dong-hyun in the round of 16 in the men’s individual round while Lee Sung-jin also advanced to the round of 16 in women’s event. Women’s hockey team suffered its second straight loss after falling short against Britain 5-3.
By Joo Kyung-don [kjoo@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)