Medal favorite Lee Joon-hwan wins Korea's second judo silver

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Published: 25 Sep. 2023, 20:08 Updated: 25 Sep. 2023, 20:36

Medal favorite Lee Joon-hwan wins Korea's second judo silver

Lee Joon-hwan's second place finish pushes Korea's total medal count in judo to six at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. [NEWS1]

Korea’s Lee Joon-hwan took silver in the men’s judo -81 kilograms division after losing to Tajikistan’s Somon Makhmadbekov in the final match on Monday.

Makhadbekov, 24, defeated Lee, 21, by waza-ari, the second-highest score awarded in judo.

Lee entered the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China as a medal favorite after winning his senior year international debut, taking gold at the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Tbilisi, Georgia.

His podium finish followed Lee Ha-rim’s silver medal in the men’s -60 kilograms division on Sunday, pushing Korea’s total judo medal count to six — two silver, four bronze — by the end of the sport's second day.

Earlier on Monday, judoka Kim Ji-jeong took bronze in the women’s -63 kilograms division, defeating Kyrgyzstan's Adina Kochkonbaeva by ippon, the highest score awarded in judo.

Kim, 26, earlier defeated opponents from Lebanon and Kazakhstan to earn a spot in a gold medal qualifying round but lost that match to Japan’s Miku Takaichi, who won by ippon.

Korea’s Park Eun-song also took bronze in the women’s judo -57 kilograms division, winning by ippon.

Lee Joon-hwan moved past the elimination round of 16 by fusen-gachi, a score awarded when the opponent does not show up. He then defeated Uzbekistan’s Muso Sobirov, 26, and Japan’s Yuhei Oino, 22, each by ippon, to advance to the gold medal round.

Korean judokas have two more days to add to their team’s overall score, with tournaments on Tuesday and Wednesday. Korea won the second-highest number of medals in judo during the 2018 Asiad in Jakarta, Indonesia, tying champion Japan with 13 medals but losing by overall points.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]