S. Korea Wins Silver in Men's Épée Team Fencing at Asian Games After Comeback Loss to Kazakhstan

The South Korean men's épée fencing national team has won the silver medal in the team event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The men's épée team, consisting of Park Sang-young, Jang Hyo-min (both from Ulsan City Hall), Nam Yeon-ho (Korea National Sport University), and Kwon Oh-min (Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps), finished as the runners-up after losing 42-43 to Kazakhstan in the final held today (the 27th) at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

South Korea, which achieved three consecutive titles in the men's team épée at the Asian Games in Doha 2006, Guangzhou 2010, and Incheon 2014, had subsequently settled for consecutive bronze medals at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and the 2022 Hangzhou Games held in 2023.

At this tournament, the team defeated formidable rival Japan in the semifinals and aimed to reclaim the top spot for the first time in 12 years, but fell short against Kazakhstan in the final, having to settle for the silver medal.

The men's team épée event determines medals through a single-elimination tournament based on seeds assigned according to the rankings of each country's individual participants.

After receiving a bye in the round of 32, South Korea defeated Uzbekistan 45-33 in the round of 16 and won against China 45-36 in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, they clashed with traditional powerhouse Japan, which won the previous two titles in the Asian Games team event and took the team silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In the final ninth round tied at 34-34, Jang Hyo-min found himself in crisis after conceding two consecutive early points to Kano Koki—the gold medalist at the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Paris Olympics, and the individual event at this tournament—but struck back with two straight points to level the score and force a sudden-death overtime.

In overtime, after a single simultaneous hit, Jang Hyo-min delivered a decisive blow with 37 seconds remaining to complete a dramatic advance to the final.

In the final, Park Sang-young stepped up in the first round and tied 3-3 with Kirill Prokodov, followed by Jang Hyo-min securing a 6-4 lead against Ruslan Kurbanov in the second round.

In the third round, Nam Yeon-ho faced Vadim Sharlaimov and widened the gap to 12-9, and in the fourth round, he unleashed his signature sudden flash attack against Kazakhstan's substitute Erlik Sertay, pulling away to 19-10 and building momentum.

South Korea maintained their lead at 25-17 in the fifth round where Nam Yeon-ho faced Prokodov. Although they allowed a chase in the sixth round as Jang Hyo-min wavered against Sharlaimov's aggressive attacks, they maintained their lead at 30-24.

Even after the seventh round between Nam Yeon-ho and Kurbanov, South Korea held on at 35-29, but Park Sang-young was pressured by the 2-meter-tall Sharlaimov in the eighth round, falling behind 34-36 to face a crisis.

In the final ninth round where the two teams' aces clashed, Jang Hyo-min allowed Prokodov to tie the score at 37-37 in a nail-biting, nerve-wracking battle, which ultimately ended 42-42, leading to another overtime period.

In overtime, they conceded a fatal point just 7 seconds in, bringing the match to a close.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.