Ahn Hyang-sik (Yongin University), who suffered a Round of 16 elimination in virtual taekwondo, has won a bronze medal in his first Asian Games kyorugi event.

Ahn lost 1-2 in round scores to Tamirlan Tleules of Kazakhstan in the semifinals of the men's 58kg taekwondo kyorugi event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at the Toyohashi General Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on October 2, failing to advance to the final.

Asian Games taekwondo kyorugi awards bronze medals to both athletes who are defeated in the semifinals, without a separate third-place match.

South Korea aimed for its third consecutive gold medal in the men's 58kg division following Kim Tae-hun at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and Jang Jun at the 2022 Hangzhou Games (held in 2023), but fell short of the goal as Ahn was stopped at the threshold of the final.

Although his goal to sweep both kyorugi and virtual taekwondo was dashed, he secured his first Asian Games medal in the afternoon kyorugi event.

Ahn, who won gold medals at the Kim Un Yong Cup International Open Taekwondo Championships last year and the World University Taekwondo Festival this year, was selected as a national representative for both men's 58kg kyorugi and virtual taekwondo in June, competing in his first Asian Games.

Earlier in the morning on the same day, Ahn was knocked out in the first hurdle of the virtual taekwondo mixed individual Round of 16, losing 1-2 to Chau Ngoc Tuyet Sang of Vietnam.

(Photo: Yonhap News)