Author: ASEAN Tribune

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).”

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Source: Yonhap News Agency

Rower Joanie Delgaco fell short of a podium finish after she settled for fifth in the women’s single sculls event of the 19th Asian Games at Fuyang Water Sports Centre here on Monday.Delgaco, the only Southeast Asian in the final round, clocked eight minutes and 5.93 seconds to finish fifth behind Anna Prakaten of Uzbekistan, Liu Ruiqi of China, Shiho Yonekawa of Japan and Huang Yi Ting of Chinese Taipei.Prakaten, who bagged a silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics while still representing Russia, reigned supreme in the 2,000-meter race as she clocked 7:39.05 while Liu clinched the silver in 7:49.98 and Yonekawa settled for the bronze in 7:51.88.Philippine Rowing Association president Patrick Gregorio said they are proud of the 25-year-old Bicol native.’Asian rowing final is a world-class field. To achieve a fifth-place finish is truly commendable,’ Gregorio said in a statement.Gregorio said they remain focused on making it to the Paris Olympics in 2024.’The Paris 2024 single sculls will have five Asian qu
alifiers,’ he said, adding that Cris Nievarez also has a good chance of returning to the Olympics following his eighth-place finish in the men’s single sculls event.Nievarez clocked 7:19.45 to emerge second behind Mahamed Riyadh Jasim Al-Khafaji of Iraq (7:16.72) in the Final B.’According to our coach, Shukrat Ganiev, both Joanie and Cris will have a good chance of qualifying for the Paris Olympics 2024 if we prepare and train well,’ Gregorio said.The Asian Championship qualifying will be held in Korea in April 2024.Also missing out on a medal was Mazel Paris Alegado, the youngest athlete here at nine years old, after she ended up seventh in the women’s park skateboarding finals.She posted runs of 52.85 (run 1), 24.83 (run 2), and 24.50 (run 3).Meanwhile, the women’s 3×3 basketball team has withdrawn after its appeal for inclusion of two replacement players was denied.Coach Pat Aquino said the team was left with no choice as it only has Camille Nolasco and Louna Ozar in its roster after the Hangzhou Asian Gam
es Organizing Committee thumbed down last-minute replacements Cielo Pagdulagan and Marga Villanueva.Pagdulagan and Villanueva were supposed to take the place of 3×3 veterans Camille Clarin and Angel Surada.Aquino apologized on behalf of the team.”Just so sad dahil (because it’s our) first time kami dito (here in 3×3) and then ganito nga ang nangyari (this happened),” he said.The men’s and women’s teams were to play Jordan in their opening games.

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Source: Philippines News Agency

South Korea’s Jang Jun claimed the gold medal in his first Asiad taekwondo appearance, winning the men’s -58kg title at the 19th Asian Games in China on Monday.

He defeated Mahdi Hajimousaeinafouti of Iran 2-0 in the gold medal match for the men’s -58kg competition at Lin’an Sports Culture and Exhibition Centre in the host city of Hangzhou.

The victory brought Jang the first Asiad medal and South Korea the third gold from the Korean martial art following two in the poomsae event held on the previous day.

The 23-year taekwondo athlete is a strong gold medal contender in the flyweight -58kg discipline in Hangzhou for his outstanding performances in recent years.

He won bronze in the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021 and finished second in the 2022 world championships.

Jang demonstrated his world-class competence at the Asian Games, never losing a round in four matches, including the final that he has participated in.

In the final, he won the first round 5-4 thanks to a three-point kick to the head. In the
second round, Jang was down 1-4 after losing three straight points to Hajimousaeinafouti. But he kicked the opponent’s head to earn three points with four seconds remaining to tie at 4-4.

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Source: Yonhap News Agency

University of Santo Tomas UST) made it to the next round after prevailing over defending NCAA titlist College of Saint Benilde (CSB), 25-13, 22-25, 25-12, 25-22, in the 2023 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan on Monday.Jonna Perdido finished with 20 attacks while Regina Jurado and Angeline Poyos contributed 19 and 17 points, respectively for the Lady Tigresses, who swept Pool C.UST’s other victories were over Letran and the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta.’Marami pa kaming rooms for improvement, yun ang pinakamaganda. Kailangan namin ng consistency na siya namang pinaka-importante (We still have a lot of rooms for improvement, that’s the best thing. We need consistency, which is the most important) entering the next round,’ said UST coach Kungfu Reyes after the match.Gayle Pascual scored 13 points for CSB (1-1), which will face Perpetual in a crucial match on Saturday.Meanwhile, Adamson University defeated NCAA runner-up
Lyceum, 25-16, 25-16, 25-13, for its second win in Pool B of the tournament held in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.Lucille Almonte, Jimy Jean Jamili and Red Bascon scored seven points each for the Lady Falcons, who secured the victory in 68 minutes.’It’s a good start for us na naka 2-0 kami kasi nakakakuha ng experience yung mga bago namin na madadala namin throughout the season. I-try pa rin namin i-blend yung chemistry ng mga bata papasok sa playoffs (It’s a good start for us that we are 2-0 because our new players are getting the experience that we can carry throughout the season. We will still try to blend the chemistry of the players going into the playoffs),’ said Adamson coach JP Yude.The Lady Falcons placed third in the SSL Season 1 and National Invitationals last month.Adamson’s victory sent Arellano (2-1) to the next round as Lyceum bowed out with a 1-2 win-loss card.Defending champion National University already advanced with a 2-0 record in
Pool A. Four more slots are available in the final week of the elimination round

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Source: Philippines News Agency

South Korean swimmer Ji Yu-chan soared to a shock gold medal in the men’s 50-meter freestyle at the Asian Games here Monday.

Ji won his first career Asiad gold with an Asian Games record time of 21.72 seconds at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Aquatic Sports Arena in Hangzhou.

He beat out Ho Ian Yentou of Hong Kong by 0.15 second. The reigning 100m freestyle champion, Pan Zhanle of China, took the bronze in 21.92 seconds.

Ji’s was South Korea’s first swimming gold medal in Hangzhou.

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Source: Yonhap News Agency

South Korea snatched its first shooting gold medal of the 19th Asian Games in China on Monday, winning the men’s 10-meter running target team title.

The trio of Kwak Yong-bin, Ha Kwang-chul and Jeong You-jin combined for 1,668 points for the gold medal at Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre in Hangzhou.

They edged out the North Korean team of Kwon Kwang-il, Pak Myong-won and Yu Song-jun, who also had 1,668 points but settled for silver because South Korea hit more 10s, 39 to 29.

This was South Korea’s first gold in shooting here.

Jeong added an individual bronze in the same running target event for his seventh career Asiad medal.

Earlier Monday, South Korea grabbed three silver medals in shooting: in the men’s individual 10m air rifle, the men’s team 10m air rifle and the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol team event.

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Source: Yonhap News Agency