▲ South Korea's Chang Sae-yun competes against Kyrgyzstan's Sabira Khozombekova in the women's 52kg judo round of 16 at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on the 30th.
South Korean judokas Chang Sae-yun (KH Feelux) and Kim Chan-nyung (High1 Resort) have both advanced to the semifinals of the judo competition at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Chang defeated China's Xu Xiaoyu by ippon in the women's 52kg quarterfinals at the Aichi International Arena in Japan on the 30th.
Having previously secured a lightning-fast ippon victory just 16 seconds into her round-of-16 match against Kyrgyzstan's Sabira Khozombekova, Chang delivered another impressive performance in her second consecutive match.
Chang and Xu engaged in a fierce battle through the middle of the match, collecting two shido (penalties) each, which put them at risk of a hansoku-make (disqualification) with just one more penalty.
The turning point came in the closing moments of the match.
With only 46 seconds remaining on the clock, Chang clinched the win with a lightning-quick foot sweep (sogake) for an ippon.
▲ South Korea's Kim Chan-nyung competes against Iran's Abolfazl Mahmoudi in the men's 66kg judo match at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on the 30th.
Competing in the men's 66kg quarterfinals, Kim Chan-nyung advanced to the semifinals by defeating Chinese Taipei's Lin Chung-you with a waza-ari.
Kim, who narrowly advanced from the round of 16 against Iran's Abolfazl Mahmoudi after his opponent accumulated three shido penalties, secured a crucial waza-ari first in the quarterfinals with a sharp inner-thigh sweep (uchimata) just 1 minute and 16 seconds into the match.
He then skillfully warded off his opponent's fierce counterattacks to protect his lead and secure a spot in the semifinals.
▲ South Korea's Lee Ha-rim leaves the arena after losing his round-of-16 match against Kazakhstan's Yeldos Smetov in the men's 60kg judo event at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan, on the 30th.
Lee Ha-rim (Armed Forces Athletic Corps), a silver medalist at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, was eliminated in the men's 60kg round of 16 after suffering an ippon defeat by hold-down against Kazakhstan's Yeldos Smetov.
Engaging in a fierce grip fight from the early stages, Lee traded two shido penalties each with Smetov in a tight contest before being caught in an arm-lock choke hold by his opponent with 2 minutes and 30 seconds remaining, resulting in an ippon defeat.
▲ Female judoka Soojin
Jeong Soojin was eliminated from the women's 48kg division after failing to pass the random weigh-in on the morning of the competition.
The weight tolerance limit is 5 percent of the weight class, allowing Jeong, who competes in the 48kg division, up to 50.4kg, but she reportedly exceeded the limit by 100 grams during the random weigh-in.
Jeong is a promising athlete who won bronze medals for two consecutive years at the Junior Asian Championships held in 2024 and 2025.
(Photo courtesy of International Judo Federation, Yonhap News)
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