▲ Park Sung-hoo
The "underdog rebellion" of Park Sung-hoo (Ju-Jitsu Korea), who advanced all the way to the final with no prior international competition experience, concluded with a valuable silver medal.
Park lost by submission at 4 minutes and 11 seconds into the match against Omar Tariq N. Nada (Saudi Arabia) in the final of the men's 94kg jiu-jitsu event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan, on October 2.
Falling behind early after conceding two points and one advantage, Park was unable to withstand his opponent's fierce joint-lock offense, tapping out to settle for a runner-up finish.
Though he missed out on the top of the podium, Park's silver medal stands as one of the major surprises of the tournament.
Having had zero international competition records last year and this year, he stormed into the final with an impressive run—including defeating Iran's formidable Pouria Taherkhani 2-0 in the semifinals earlier in the day—proving a bright future for South Korea's heavyweight jiu-jitsu.
Kim Hee-dong (Ju-Jitsu Korea), competing in the same men's 94kg division, added a valuable bronze medal.
Kim secured a place on the podium by claiming a 5-2 decision victory over Iran's Taherkhani in the bronze medal match, executing a 2-point and a 3-point technique.
With this, South Korea swept both the silver and bronze medals in the men's 94kg division.
▲ Im Eun-ju
Im Eun-ju (Ju-Jitsu Korea), who competed in the women's 52kg final held shortly after, also claimed a silver medal.
Im put up a fierce fight against Asma Alhosani (United Arab Emirates), the world's top-ranked competitor in this weight class and the champion of the 2022 Hangzhou Games, but lost 0-4.
Engaged in intense ground battles throughout the match, Im fought back by securing two advantages, but ultimately missed out on the gold medal after conceding two consecutive 2-point techniques to her opponent.
Im, who had lost to Alhosani in the final of this weight class at the Sanya Asian Beach Games in April of this year, failed to exact revenge in their rematch.
The bronze medal match in the men's 77kg division featured an all-South Korean showdown.
After a tight battle between national team teammates Park Jae-won and Gu Bon-chul (both of Ju-Jitsu Korea), Park emerged victorious 6-4 to take home the bronze medal.
Park fended off Gu's pursuit by combining a large 4-point technique, a 2-point technique, and three advantages.
(Photo provided by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, Yonhap News)
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