Taekwondo's Song Da-bin Reaches Final in First AG... Pursuing First Kyorugi Gold

Song Da-bin (Ulsan City Council) has advanced to the final in her first-ever Asian Games, eyeing to reclaim South Korea's gold medal in the women's over-67kg weight class.

Song defeated Fatemeh Ahmadi of Iran with a round score of 2-0 (7-1, 2-0) in the women's over-67kg taekwondo kyorugi semifinal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Toyohashi Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, today (the 3rd).

Having secured at least a silver medal, Song is now just one win away from capturing the South Korean kyorugi national team's first gold medal of the tournament.

If Song claims the top of the podium, it will mark South Korea's first gold medal in this weight class in 8 years, following Lee Da-bin's victory at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.

Following Lee Da-bin's gold in 2018 and silver at the 2022 Hangzhou Games (held in 2023), Song's guaranteed medal ensures a remarkable streak of podium finishes for South Korea in three consecutive tournaments.

Having defeated Oula Al-Dosari (Bahrain) and Rama Abu Al-Rub (Jordan) 2-0 in the round of 16 and quarterfinals respectively, Song maintained her strong performance in the semifinals.

In the first round, Song took a 2-0 lead with a trunk attack and extended it to 4-0 by landing another trunk attack with 16 seconds remaining.

Although she conceded a point to a punch, she successfully landed a head attack with 10 seconds left on the clock to secure the first round 7-1.

After a tight probing battle in the second round, she secured a 2-0 victory by landing a trunk attack with 4 seconds remaining.

Song, who won the women's over-73kg event at the Rhine-Ruhr Summer World University Games last year, has been on an upward trajectory, also taking home a gold medal at the Muju Grand Prix last month.

Having been introduced to taekwondo through her older brother in elementary school, Song nurtured her dream of becoming a national athlete while watching the 2016 Rio Olympics, and is now challenging for a gold medal in her first Asian Games.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.