Korea's Hong Se-na claims bronze in women's foil at Hangzhou Asian Games

Hong Se-na lost 15-8 to Huang Qianqian of China in the women’s foil individual semifinal at the Hangzhou Asian Games Monday, failing to win a fifth consecutive Asiad gold medal for Korea, but securing a bronze.  

The semifinal took place at Hangzhou Dianzi University Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China and Hong failed to dominate in the first period, only managing one point to end the period 7-1.  

She secured a few more points in the second period, but her efforts fell short, ending the period at 11-5.  

The 23-year-old then managed three consecutive points to take the score to 12-8 in the third period, but Huang ended it at 15-8, ending Hong’s chance of reaching the final.  

Hong still won a bronze. In Asian Games fencing, there is no third-place match with the two losers from the semifinals earning a bronze each.  

Had Hong won a gold in this year’s women’s foil, she would have won Korea’s fifth successive gold in the Games.  

Nam Hyun-hee won two successive golds in 2006 and 2010 Asiads, before Jeon Hee-seok managed the same in the 2014 and 2018 tournaments.  

Hong’s bronze in fencing came after one gold by Choi In-jeong and silver by Song Se-ra in épée a day earlier. The final was an all-Korean affair between the two.  

Fencing is one of the sports that Korea has a chance of winning multiple medals in, as it has secured over 120 medals in total so far. 

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]