▲ Choo Ga-eun poses with her gold medal.
The South Korean delegation added two gold medals through "reliable medal events," shooting and fencing, bringing the country's total gold medal count to eight at the ongoing Games.
Choo Ga-eun (Imsil County Office) secured the gold medal in the women's 10m air pistol individual final at the Aichi Prefectural Shooting Range in Japan today (the 23rd), setting an Asian record with a score of 246.3 points.
The South Korean shooting team breathed a sigh of relief and found their smiles after managing only one silver and two bronze medals over the previous three days.
Choo became the first South Korean to capture the top spot in this event in 16 years, following Kim Yoon-mi at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.
Earlier, Choo teamed up with Kim Bo-mi (Busan City Hall) and Oh Ye-jin (IBK Bank) in the women's 10m air pistol team event—which doubled as the individual qualification—scoring 1,730 points to claim the silver medal.
▲ Oh Sang-uk holding a gold medal
Fencing star Oh Sang-uk (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall) captured South Korea's eighth gold medal of the delegation.
Oh defeated Shen Chenpeng of China 15-13 in the men's sabre individual final held at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, to claim the championship.
This marks the second "golden thrust" in fencing following Song Se-ra's victory in the women's epee individual event yesterday.
Oh successfully defended his men's sabre individual title, following his victory at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held in 2023.
Following Gu Bon-gil, who achieved a three-peat at the 2010 Guangzhou, 2014 Incheon, and 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, Oh reached the top for the second consecutive time, maintaining South Korea's five-consecutive-games dominance in the men's sabre individual event.
In women's foil fencing, Park Ji-hee (Seoul Metropolitan Government) took home the silver medal after losing 4-15 to Ueno Yuka of Japan in the final.
South Korean swimming ace Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon State University) failed in his bid for consecutive titles in the men's 200m freestyle.
Hwang, the champion of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, touched the pad in second place with a time of 1:44.62 in the men's 200m freestyle final at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, behind China's Zhang Zhanshuo, who set an Asian record with 1:43.49.
Rising backstroke star Kim Seung-won (Gyeonggi Physical Education High School) finished third in the women's 100m backstroke final with a time of 1:00.10, earning her second bronze medal of the competition following the 50m backstroke.
Kim then added another bronze medal in the mixed 400m medley relay, teaming up with An Se-hyun (Jeju City Hall), Choi Dong-yeol, and Kim Young-beom (both from Gangwon State University).
Lee Ha-sung, a prominent Wushu athlete for South Korea, scored a combined 19.406 points in the men's daoshu and gunshu events at the Nagoya Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, taking the silver medal behind China's Gao Xiaobin, who scored 19.582 points.
Lee, who gave South Korea its first gold medal of the 2014 Incheon Asian Games in changquan, returned to the Asian Games podium after 12 years.
Race walking veteran Choi Byeong-kwang (Samsung Electronics) won the bronze medal in the men's half marathon race walk with a time of 1 hour, 28 minutes, and 35 seconds on the Nagoya road course.
This is South Korea's first athletics medal of the current Games and the first medal Choi has secured in his fourth attempt at the Asian Games since the 2014 Incheon Games.
The South Korean baseball team, aiming for its fifth consecutive title, routed underdog Thailand 18-1 to secure its third straight win and advance to the super round as the top seed of Group B, setting up a high-stakes showdown against Group A leader Japan on the 25th.
Led by "shuttlecock queen" An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), the South Korean women's badminton team lost 1-3 to Japan in the women's team semifinals, falling short of a second consecutive title and settling for a bronze medal.
The South Korean women's handball team, pressing forward to reclaim the Asian Games summit for the first time in eight years, secured a dominant 43-13 (22-8, 21-5) victory over Uzbekistan in their third match, extending their winning streak to three.
Despite unexpected complications that drastically shortened their competition schedule to just two days right before the opening—originally slated for the 5th—the South Korean rowing national team made a smooth start by successfully advancing five events to the finals. The South Korean men's 3x3 basketball national team advanced directly to the quarterfinals after sweeping all three matches in the group stage, raising hopes for a medal.
The South Korean women's artistic gymnastics team narrowly missed out on a podium finish in their bid for their first team medal in 20 years.
Comprising Yeo Seo-jeong (Jecheon City Hall), Lee Yun-seo (Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Office), Shin Sol-i (Gangwon State Sports Council), Im Su-min (Jecheon City Hall), and Hwang Seo-hyun (Incheon Physical Education High School), the South Korean team finished fourth in the women's artistic gymnastics team final with a combined total of 156.863 points across the vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.
Both the South Korean men's and women's table tennis teams settled for bronze medals after falling 0-3 in match scores to host nation Japan in the team semifinals.
As of the 23rd, South Korea sits in third place with 8 gold, 8 silver, and 25 bronze medals, trailing China (48 golds) and Japan (15 golds).
Kazakhstan holds the fourth spot with 7 gold medals.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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