Park Sung-hoo's underdog run, which took him all the way to the final without any prior international competition experience, has culminated in a valuable silver medal.

Park suffered a submission defeat 4 minutes and 11 seconds into the match against Omar Tareq N. Nada of Saudi Arabia in the men's 94kg jiu-jitsu final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Japan on October 2.

Falling behind early after conceding two points and one advantage, Park was unable to weather his opponent's fierce joint-lock offense and tapped out, settling for the silver.

Although he did not reach the highest step of the podium, Park's silver medal stands as one of the major surprises of this tournament.

With no international competition records whatsoever last year and this year, Park powered his way to the final with a blistering streak, including a 2-0 victory over tough Iranian opponent Pourya Taherkhani in the semifinals earlier in the day, demonstrating a bright future for South Korea's heavyweight jiu-jitsu.

Kim Hee-dong, competing in the same men's 94kg division, added a valuable bronze medal.

Kim secured his place on the podium with a 5-2 decision win over Iran's Taherkhani in the bronze medal match, executing a two-point and a three-point technique.

With this, South Korea swept both the silver and bronze medals in the men's 94kg division.


Lim Eon-ju, who competed in the women's 52kg final held right after, also claimed a silver medal.

Lim put up a strong fight against Asma Al Hosani of the United Arab Emirates, the division's world powerhouse and champion of the 2022 Hangzhou Games, but lost 0-4.

Engaging in intense ground battles throughout the match, Lim fought back by earning two advantages, but narrowly missed out on the gold medal after consecutively conceding two-point techniques to her opponent.

Having lost to Al Hosani in the same weight class final at the Sanya Asian Beach Games in April of this year, Lim failed to get her revenge in their rematch.

The bronze medal match for the men's 77kg division featured a head-to-head showdown between South Korean athletes.

Following a fierce battle between national team teammates Park Jae-won and Gu Bon-chul, Park Jae-won won 6-4 to take home the bronze medal.

Park Jae-won fended off Gu Bon-chul's pursuit by combining a large four-point technique, a two-point technique, and three advantages.

(Photo: Provided by Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, Yonhap News)