Subscribe
E-Paper
.jpg/dims/resize/740/optimize) |
.jpg/dims/resize/740/optimize) |
.jpg/dims/resize/740/optimize) |
| From topt are equestrian Hwang Young-shik, fencer Lee Ra-jin and wushu practitioner Lee Ha-sung, who won gold medals on the first day of the Incheon Asian Games, Saturday, pushing South Korea to the top of the medal rankings with five gold, five silver and three bronze. / Yonhap |
By Yoon Sung-won
South Korea had a pleasant start at the Incheon Asian Games on Saturday, bagging five golds on the first day in the wushu, equestrian, track cycling and fencing events.
The host country is on top of the medal count with five gold, five silver and three bronze — a strong start towards its goal of winning more than 90 gold medals in the 16-day event.
First gold from wushu
South Korea's Lee Ha-sung won his country's first gold by winning the men's changquan — one of the exhibition "taolu" events — at the Ganghwa Dolmens Gymnasium in Incheon on Saturday.
Lee totaled 9.71 points, 0.02 ahead of Macau's Jia Rui.
This was South Korea's first wushu gold in the Asiad since the 2002 Busan Asiad.
Lee's gold came as a surprise as the sport has been relatively unknown to many South Koreans. It evolved from China's traditional martial arts, and was formally adopted as an Asiad event since the 1990 Beijing Asian Games.
Fifteen gold medals are available in the men's and women's events.
South dominates fencing
The all-Korean finals that took place at the Goyang Gymnasium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Saturday showed Korea's fencing dominance in Asia.
Lee Ra-jin stunned 2012 Olympic champion Kim Ji-yeon in the women's saber final, winning 15-11. Lee jumped to a 5-1 lead over Kim, who fought back to make it competitive at 13-10.
But Kim failed to maintain her momentum, with Lee winning her first Asiad gold. It was the first all-Korean final in the women's saber since 2002.
In the men's event, Jung Jin-sun won gold, beating Park Kyoung-doo 15-9 in the epee final. The match was neck-and-neck before Jung moved to a 7-3 advantage at the halfway point. He continued to dominate to win his first individual gold at an Asiad. It was the first all-Korean Asiad men's epee final since 1998.
Equestrians, cyclists add two golds
South Korea's men's equestrian dressage team won the country's fifth consecutive Asiad gold on Saturday.
Hwang Young-shik, Chung Yoo-yeon and Kim Dong-seon averaged 71.746, beating Japan with 69.842 points. Hwang posted the best score of the 32 riders with 74.342 points.
In cycling, South Korea won its first Asiad gold in the men's team sprint, while the women's team won silver in the team sprint.
China outguns South Korea
South Korean shooters yielded gold to the Chinese and settled for two silver medals on Saturday morning. Shooting has been considered a relatively safe bet of winning golds for the South Koreans. On this day, however, the Chinese defied that notion.
Jung Jee-hae won silver in the women's 10-meter air pistol event at Ongnyeon International Shooting Range. Jung totaled 201.3 points to finish 0.9 point behind China's Zhang Mengyuan.
South Korea's men's team — Jin Jong-oh, Lee Dae-myung and Choi Young-rae — won silver in the 50-meter pistol team competition at the same venue. The team totaled 1,670 points to claim second place behind China, with 1,692 points.
South Korea won the gold in both events at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in 2010.
