▲ South Korea's Park Sang-won, Oh Sang-uk, Do Gyeong-dong, and Hwang Hee-geun enter the venue ahead of the men's team saber final against Japan at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 26th.
The South Korean men's saber fencing team has achieved a milestone of winning four consecutive gold medals in the Asian Games team event.
The men's saber team—consisting of Oh Sang-uk, Park Sang-won (both from Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall), Do Gyeong-dong (Daegu Metropolitan City Hall), and Hwang Hee-geun (Sangmu)—defeated Japan 45-44 in the final of the men's saber team event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, today (the 26th).
This marks the 15th gold medal for the South Korean delegation at these Games.
South Korea successfully achieved its fourth consecutive victory in the Asian Games men's saber team event, following triumphs at the 2014 Incheon, 2018 Jakarta-Palembang, and 2022 Hangzhou (held in 2023) Games.
Ace Oh Sang-uk, who successfully defended his individual title on the 23rd, joined forces with his teammates to win the team event as well, securing his second consecutive double gold of the tournament.
With his fifth career Asian Games gold medal, Oh moved just one behind senior saber legend Gu Bon-gil, who holds the record for the most gold medals by a South Korean athlete with six.
South Korea has further solidified its status as a powerhouse by winning three consecutive men's saber team gold medals at the Olympics—London 2012, Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021), and Paris 2024—while maintaining its supremacy in the Asian Games for over a decade.
Fencing team events are contested in a single-elimination tournament format, with seeds assigned based on each country's individual event results.
Receiving the top seed, South Korea bypassed the Round of 16 with a bye, easily defeated India 45-25 in the quarterfinals, and secured a comfortable 45-24 victory against Hong Kong in the semifinals.
Following South Korea's one-point comeback loss to Japan in the women's foil team final earlier today, the men's saber team final set up another showdown against Japan, serving as a stage for redemption.
Park Sang-won took the piste first, taking a 5-3 lead against Japan's leading fencer Kokubo Mao. Oh Sang-uk then extended the lead to 10-6 against Japanese veteran Yoshida Kento.
After Do Gyeong-dong faced Tsubo Hayato in the third round to widen the gap to 15-8, South Korea weathered a tough challenge from Yoshida's veteran play in the fourth round with Park to maintain a 20-16 advantage.
In the fifth round, Do Gyeong-dong fended off Kokubo's pursuit to maintain a 25-21 lead, and Oh Sang-uk kept a 30-26 edge over Tsubo in the sixth round, seemingly bringing the fourth consecutive title within reach.
However, right at the start of the seventh round, Do Gyeong-dong conceded six consecutive points to Yoshida, allowing a 30-32 turnaround, and ultimately fell behind 32-35 as Japan reached the 35-point mark first.
In the eighth round, Park Sang-won staged a comeback from 34-38 against Tsubo with five straight points to reclaim the lead, but conceded a painful point at 39-39, keeping South Korea in a tight spot.
Entering the final ninth round trailing by a point, Oh Sang-uk faced a desperate situation against Kokubo, falling behind 41-44. With just one more point meaning defeat, Oh rattled off four consecutive points to complete a dramatic comeback victory.
On the second day of the team events, South Korean fencing added a men's saber gold and a women's foil silver, bringing their total tally for the tournament to three golds, three silvers, and two bronzes.
On tomorrow (the 27th), the final day of fencing at these Games, the men's epee and women's saber team events will take place.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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