Korean B-boy Hong 10 wins breaking silver at Hangzhou Asian Games

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Published: 07 Oct. 2023, 22:37

Korean B-boy Hong 10 wins breaking silver at Hangzhou Asian Games

Korea's Kim Hong-yul, better known as ″Hong 10,″ takes silver in the men's breaking competition on Saturday, winning the country's sole medal at the sport's Asian Games debut in Hangzhou, China. [YONHAP]

Korean B-boy Kim Hong-yul took silver in the men’s breaking competition in Hangzhou, China on Saturday, the only member of team Korea to medal in the sport at its Asian Games debut.

Kim, better known as “Hong 10,” was narrowly outdanced by Japan’s Shigeyuki Nakarai in the men’s gold-medal battle, losing by a single vote from the nine-judge panel.

B-Boys and B-Girls bust a move at Hangzhou Asian Games

Nakarai, called B-boy “Shigekix,” won 14 votes across three dance-offs in the final round while Kim earned 13.

The judges voted based on six criteria — creativity, technique, personality, performativity, musicality and variety. A total of 45 B-boys and B-girls — the formal term for individual breakdancers — competed this year in breakdancing’s first-ever Asiad.

All four Koreans made it to the Saturday knockouts after breaking into the top eight after Friday’s pre-selection phase and round robin, where they were paired with three other dancers, going head-to-head with each across three one-on-one battles.

But with the exception of Kim, team Korea suffered a disappointing performance in the first sudden-death elimination round on Saturday with breakdancing stars Kim “Wing” Heon-woo, Jeon “Fresh Bella” Ji-ye and Kwon “Starry” Seong-hui all losing their knockout battles 2-0.

B-boy Wing took gold in the men’s contest at the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) Asian Championship in July while Hong 10 finished third. B-girl Fresh Bella also finished third, in the women’s category.

Kim’s silver-medal finish is still a historic one, with Korea being one of three countries to hold a breakdancing title from the sport’s Asian Games debut.

China and Japan swept the rest of the titles, and their gold medalists were automatically awarded a spot among the 16 dancers who get to compete in either the men’s or women’s competitions at breakdancing’s Olympic debut in Paris next summer.

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