At the 19th Asian Games in China on Monday, Oh Sang-uk was given a chance to take his revenge on his compatriot Gu Bon-gil, who defeated him in the final of the men’s individual sabre fencing at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Oh did not miss the chance. He routed Gu 15-7 in the gold medal match of the men’s individual sabre, avenging his loss.
But Oh said he did not think of retaliation when facing his teammate, who was seeking his fourth consecutive individual sabre title in Hangzhou.
“Revenge was not on my mind. I just wanted to win the duel and claim the gold medal,” he said in a post-match interview. “I was very nervous because of the memory of Jakarta. But I think I did well.”
The gold medal is the first Asian Games individual title for the 26-year-old fencer, whose decorative collection includes the world championship title in 2019.
Oh said this gold is more meaningful for him, since he has just returned from an ankle injury and proved his worth after a perfect recovery.
“I didn’t have enough
time to recover from the injury, but my teammates have kept encouraging me to do well,” he said. “And I regained confidence to compete and pull off good results.”
Also, he has passed his own standard to be strong and competitive enough to start his Olympic quest. He has won an Olympic gold in the team event but has no individual medal at the quadrennial event.
“I could check my combat power before the Paris Olympics,” he said. “I was very nervous in the final but I successfully managed to win gold in this tight situation. This experience will help me a lot (in the Olympics).”
 
Source: Yonhap News Agency