S. Korea Wins Bronze in Men's Team Foil, Falling Short of 3rd Straight Asian Games Title

South Korea's men's foil fencing team won the bronze medal in the team event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, falling short of securing its third consecutive championship.

The men's foil team—consisting of Yoon Jung-hyun, Lee Kwang-hyun, Im Cheol-woo (all from Hwaseong City Hall), and Kim Tae-hwan (Chungnam Sports Council)—lost to Hong Kong 41-45 in the semifinals held on the 25th at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

South Korea won consecutive gold medals in the men's team foil at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games (held in 2023), but settled for a bronze this time after being defeated in the semifinals.

In Asian Games fencing, both teams that lose in the semifinals are awarded bronze medals without a separate third-place playoff.

Yoon Jung-hyun, following his bronze medal in the individual event held on the 22nd, teamed up with his colleagues to secure another bronze in the team event, earning two medals at his first-ever Asian Games.

Fencing team events determine medals through a single-elimination tournament bracket, with seedings assigned based on the individual results of each country's participants.

Receiving the No. 2 seed and a bye through the Round of 16, South Korea faced an early scare in the quarterfinals against Taiwan, falling behind 10-15 in the early stages.

However, the same-age peers born in 1993, Im Cheol-woo and Lee Kwang-hyun, stepped up in the 4th and 5th rounds to turn the match around to 25-24. In the 7th round with South Korea trailing 29-30, Im Cheol-woo took the piste again and reached 35 points first against Ryan Choi, securing a spot in the semifinals.

Hong Kong proved to be a formidable opponent, featuring Cheung Ka Long, the individual champion of the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics, and Ryan Choi, last year's world championship winner.

South Korea started the match as Lee Kwang-hyun trailed Harris Ho 2-5 in the 1st round, and the gap widened to 2-10 after the 2nd round where Im Cheol-woo faced Ryan Choi.

Trailing 6-15 after the 3rd round between Yoon Jung-hyun and Cheung Ka Long, South Korea substituted Kim Tae-hwan for Im Cheol-woo in the 4th round, but the deficit grew to 20-9.

Yoon Jung-hyun fought hard in the 6th round against Ryan Choi to narrow the score to 20-26, but subsequent points conceded pushed the deficit to 20-30. Despite a late surge by Lee Kwang-hyun in the final 9rd round that brought South Korea within two points (41-43), they could not turn the match around.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.