After dominating the men's sabre team event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to lead South Korea to its third consecutive victory in the event, “Godstealer” Do Kyung-dong (Daegu Metropolitan Fencing Association) came out on top in the individual event at a domestic tournament.
Do defeated Park Sang-won (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall) 15-10 in the final of the men's sabre individual event at the 64th Presidential National Men's and Women's Fencing Championships at the Glory Sportium National Sports Center in Jeonnam on Wednesday.
Do Kyung-dong, who defeated Park Tae-young (Hwaseong City Hall) 15-10 in the quarterfinals, also won 15-10 in the semifinals against Koo Bon-gil (National Sports Promotion Organization), with whom he shared a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
According to the Korean Fencing Association, Do was recently discharged from the Korean Armed Forces Athletic Unit after winning a gold medal in Paris and qualifying for special military service.
In his first tournament as a “civilian,” he won an individual gold medal.
The quarterfinals of the tournament brought together all members of the men's sabre team.
On the other side of Do Kyung-dong's victory over veteran Koo Bon-gil, Park Sang-won (Daejeon Metropolitan Government) earned a bye over Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan Government), the individual gold medalist at the Paris Olympics and one of the best fencers of all time in South Korea.
Oh, who defeated Kim Jung-hwan 15-6 in the quarterfinals, reportedly decided not to compete in the rest of the tournament to prevent injury given his current physical condition.
Do Kyung-dong, who hadn't competed before the final against Hungary at the Paris Olympics, stepped on the piste for the first time at the start of the seventh round of the final after being replaced by Koo Bon-gil with the score 30-29.
The Korean fencer scored five points in a row and did not concede a single point, overpowering Christine Love and building on the gap Do Kyung-dong had opened up to give South Korea a comfortable victory over Hungary. It was South Korea's third consecutive men's sabre team title after London 2012 and Tokyo 2020.
Do Kyung-dong, who made his presence felt with a “storming five-point score,” has been called the secret weapon and “god-stealer” of the men's sabre team.
Do was originally scheduled to retire from the army in October, but thanks to his team victory, he was able to move up his retirement date by about two months.
Speaking to reporters in the joint press area after the final in Paris, Do responded to a joke about whether or not he would fulfill his military service by saying, “I'll try harder at fencing after I get out (of the military).”
Meanwhile, Jeon Ha-young (Seoul Metropolitan Government) won the women's individual sabre event, defeating Choi Se-bin (Jeonnam-do), who shared the team silver medal at the Paris Olympics, 15-9 in the final. 온라인카지노사이트
