South Korean athletes cruised to five gold medals on the opening day of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games as they continued to dominate the early medal race.
The Koreans picked up golds in taekwondo, shooting and fencing, were strong in martial arts and bayoneting, and added two golds in swimming in the evening to take their tally to 10 after the opening two days.
First, the South Korean men’s 800-meter freestyle relay team of Yang Jae-hoon (Gangwon Provincial Office), Lee Ho-joon (Daegu City Hall), Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo (both Gangwon Provincial Office) finished the final in an Asian record time of 7:01.73 at the Olympic Center Pool in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, on Friday.
South Korea, which had previously won four silver medals in the team event, made history by winning gold in the relay for the first time at an Asian Games.
China’s team of Fan Zhanle, Wang Shun, New Guangsheng and Yang Haoyu finished second in 7:03.40.
After winning bronze in the 100-meter freestyle the previous day, Hwang Sun-woo (Korea Gymnastics Federation) won his second Asian Games medal in gold, while qualifiers Lee Yoo-yeon (Korea Gymnastics Federation) and Kim Gun-woo (Dokdo Sports Organization) also won gold.
Earlier in the day, Ji Yoo-chan (Daegu City Hall) won the men’s 50-meter freestyle in 21.72 seconds, becoming the first South Korean to win gold in this event in 21 years.
It was the first gold medal in the men’s 50-meter freestyle at an Asian Games for a South Korean athlete since Kim Min-seok at Busan 2002.
Ho Ian Yan-tou (HKR) finished second in 21.87, while Fan Zhan-liu, the 100-meter freestyle winner the previous day, took bronze in 21.92.
In taekwondo, Jang Jun (Korea Gas Corp.) won the men’s 58-kilogram final, defeating Mahmi Hajimosaeinapoti (Iran) by a round score of 2-0.
Following the gold medals won by Kang Wan-jin (Hongcheoncheong) and Cha Ye-eun (Kyung Hee University) in the Poomsae event on the first day of competition, the taekwondo dominance continued on the second day.
Jang Jun, the bronze medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, won his first Asian Games title and showed why he is one of the world’s best in his weight class.
In shooting, the men’s 10-meter running target team of Jung Jeong-jin (Cheongju City Hall), Ha Kwang-cheol (Busan City Hall), and Kwak Yong-bin (Chungnam Sports Association) won gold with 1,668 points.
The Koreans had the same total score as North Korea, but won the 10-meter event with a 39-29 advantage in hits in the center of the 10-meter mark.
This is the first time South Korea has ever won gold in the 10-meter running target team event at an Asian Games.
In fencing, Korean athletes dominated the finals for the second day in a row.
The previous day, Choi In-jung and Song Sera met in the women’s epee final, with Choi winning gold, and today, Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon City Hall) and Goo Bon-gil (Korea Sports Promotion Organization) met in the men’s sabre final, with Oh winning gold and Goo sharing silver.
The pair met in the final at the previous Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, where Koo won 15-14 to claim his third consecutive Asian Games individual title, but this time Oh took the top spot on the podium.
In sailing, one gold medal was ‘booked’.
Competing in the men’s windsurfing RS:X class at the Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Center, Cho Won-woo (Haeundae City Hall) had a penalty score of 13 after the 12th race, clinching the gold medal without the need for a result on the 26th.
Wonwoo Cho will take home the gold medal even if he does not compete on the 26th. However, the gold medal will be awarded to Cho at a ceremony after the 26th race.
In judo, Lee Jun-hwan (Yongin University) made it to the final in the men’s 81-kilogram category, but lost to Somon Makhmedbekov (Tajikistan) by half a thigh reverse.
For the second day in a row, a silver medal came from judo, following Lee Hae-rim (KOR) in the men’s 60kg category the day before.
In the semifinals of the table tennis team event, the Korean men’s and women’s teams had mixed fortunes.
The men defeated Iran 3-0 to reach the final, their 10th consecutive Asian Games team event final since Seoul 1986, and will face ‘Great Wall’ China in the final on Saturday.
The women’s team, on the other hand, lost 1-3 to Japan in the quarterfinals, marking their first appearance in an Asian Games team final in 33 years since their silver medal in Beijing in 1990.
In women’s soccer, Ji So-yeon (Suwon FC) reached the milestone of 150 A-match appearances and Son Hwa-yeon (Hyundai Steel) scored a hat-trick as South Korea beat the Philippines 5-1 for their second straight win and a spot in the quarterfinals.
North Korea, which had won one bronze medal the previous day, won silver in the women’s 70-kilogram judo and men’s 10-meter running target team events and complemented its bronze in the women’s gymnastics team event.
South Korea is second in the medal standings with 10 gold, 10 silver and 13 bronze medals through 25 days of competition.
China leads the way with 39 gold medals, followed by Japan with five golds, 14 silvers and 12 bronzes.
North Korea is 13th with two silver and two bronze medals. 파워볼분석
