The Chinese spectators, who loudly chanted jjayo throughout the game, fell into dead silence the moment Korea’s gold medal was confirmed.스포츠토토
The men’s saber team, consisting of Koo Bon-gil, Oh Sang-wook, Kim Jeong-hwan, and Kim Jun-ho, won the championship by defeating China in the final of the men’s fencing saber team event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Electronics College gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on the 28th.
The national team, which won gold medals at the 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta and Palembang competitions, aimed for its third consecutive team gold medal at this competition. They won a ticket to the finals by winning 45-26 over Japan in the team quarterfinals held this morning and 45-41 over Kazakhstan in the semifinals.
The opponent in the final was China. The national team, which did not lose its composure despite the one-sided cheering of the Chinese spectators, won 45-33 without giving China the lead.
The first batter of the first round was Oh Sang-wook. He took an early lead against Lin Xiao, but lost the match 4-5. The score increased again thanks to the performance of second hitter Koo Bon-gil. He gave up 6 points to Shen Tianfeng to take a 10-8 lead.
From then on, the national team took control and did not give up. Kim Jun-ho, who started the third round, scored 5-1 against Yang Ying-hui, widening the gap to 15-9. Veteran Koo Bon-gil solidified the score. With his skillful game management, he overwhelmed Lin Xiao and recorded 5-2, widening the gap to 20-11.
Oh Sang-wook struggled. He was pushed down to 1-4 by Yang Yinghui. However, once they got into the swing of things, they were able to come back with a score of 5-4. The national team won 25-15, 10 points ahead of China. Kim Jun-ho lost 5-7, narrowing the score to 8 points at 30-22, and Koo Bon-gil also lost 5-6, making it 35-28, but Kim Jun-ho won 5-2 against Liang Jin-hao, widening the gap to 40-30 by 10 points.
In the end, Oh Sang-wook decided the winner. He won 5-3 against Shen Tianfeng and the game ended at 45-33. It was the moment when the men’s saber team won the gold medal.
In the saber team match that day, the support of the Chinese audience was especially noticeable. The Chinese fans, who had chanted ‘Jjayo’ so loudly that it disrupted their immersion throughout the game, fell silent for a moment when South Korea’s gold medal was confirmed with Oh Sang-wook’s victory. It was so quiet that it felt like it was a preliminaries rather than a finals.
Chinese spectators chanted jjayo along with the players’ names whenever Chinese players scored or the referee ruled in China’s favor. In a situation where the score was lost and the flow was lost, and the Chinese crowd’s cheers added, their mental strength could have been shaken, but the national team players did not waver and only focused on the game.
The Chinese spectators’ cheering was of no use. The Chinese crowd, who had been shouting for the stadium to leave, became as quiet as no spectators when Korea won. Then, when the women’s foil final match between Korea and China was held again, the murmur began.