Chung Han-jae wins Korea's first wrestling medal at Asian Games

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Published: 04 Oct. 2023, 22:10 Updated: 05 Oct. 2023, 22:28

Chung Han-jae wins Korea's first wrestling medal at Asian Games

Korean wrestler Chung Han-jae, right, competes in a men's Greco-Roman 60-kilogram division bout against Sharshenbekov Zholaman of Kyrgyzstan at Lin’an Sports Culture & Exhibition Centre in Hangzhou, China on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Korean wrestler Chung Han-jae beat Bakhramov Islomjon of Uzbekistan 5-4 in the men’s Greco-Roman 60-kilograms division bronze medal bout at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Wednesday, winning the country’s first medal in the sport at this year’s Asiad.

Chung faced Islomjon at Lin’an Sports Culture & Exhibition Centre in Hangzhou, China after a 9-0 loss to Sharshenbekov Zholaman of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinal earlier in the day.

Chung earned three points in the first period and gained one more in the second period. But he allowed Islomjon to tie the score at 4-4 just 14 seconds before the end of the match.

Islomjon then gave away one point with a foul at the end, which later turned out to be a costly mistake, as Chung claimed bronze with a final score of 5-4.

Chung’s bronze was Korea’s first and only medal in wrestling on Wednesday. Countryman Kim Hyeon-woo failed to secured bronze after a 5-3 loss to Liu Rui in the men’s Greco-Roman 77 kilograms division bronze medal bout later on the same day.

Korea secured eight medals in total in wrestling at the 2018 Asian Games with two gold and six bronze.

The wrestling schedule will continue through Saturday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]