Joo Seong-hyeon takes bronze for Korea's first ju-jitsu medal in Hangzhou

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Published: 05 Oct. 2023, 19:47

Joo Seong-hyeon takes bronze for Korea's first ju-jitsu medal in Hangzhou

Korea's Joo Seong-hyeon defeats Mongolia's Tuvdentarvaa Choijamts to take bronze in the men's ju-jitsu -69 kilograms contest on Thursday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Korea’s Joo Seong-hyeon took bronze in the men’s -69 kilograms ju-jitsu contest on Thursday, winning the national team its first medal in the sport at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Joo, 22, beat Mongolia’s Tuvdentarvaa Choijamts in the bronze-medal match, winning the bout in 1 minute and 52 seconds by advantages.

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In ju-jitsu, points are awarded depending on the action. Advantages are awarded when an athlete puts their opponent into a point-scoring position, such as a “sweep” or “knee on belly” but fails to keep it for the entire duration.

Joo earlier defeated Jordan’s Abdelkarim Alrashid in the elimination round of 16 and Singapore’s Noah Tian Run Lim in the quarterfinals, winning each by advantages, but lost to Nurzhan Batyrbekov in the semifinal bout by submission.

Ju-jitsu made its Asian Games debut in 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia where Korea won two medals in the sport. Korea’s Kira Sung took gold in the women’s 62 kilograms contest and teammate Hwang Myeng-se took bronze in the men’s 94 kilograms division.

Thursday marked the first day of the ju-jitsu schedule at this year’s Asiad. Elimination and medal rounds in both men’s and women’s contests are set to continue through Friday and wrap up Saturday.

The competition for defending gold-medalist Sung will begin on Saturday in the women’s -63 kilograms contest.

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