(ATTN: ADDS details from para 16, new photo)
By Yoo Jee-ho
NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea struck gold in the women's sabre fencing team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, delivering the country's fourth fencing title on the sport's last day here.
The team of Choi Se-bin, Jeon Ha-young, Seo Ji-yeon and Kim Jeong-mi took down Japan's Misaki Emura, Yui Sano, Yuina Kaneko and Seri Ozaki by 45-31 at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, south of the main host city, Nagoya.
None of the South Korean fencers won an individual medal earlier in the competition but won the team title together.
Choi was on the 2023 Asian Games team that won bronze behind Uzbekistan and Japan.
South Korea finished fencing with four gold medals, four silver medals and two bronze medals.
Seo Ji-yeon of South Korea (R) battles Misaki Emura of Japan during the final of the women's sabre fencing team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan, on Sept. 27, 2026. (Yonhap)
Team fencing events are contested in nine head-to-head bouts. Each bout is three minutes long, but it ends when one team's score reaches a multiple of five.
A team scoring 45 points first or having more points than the opponent at the end of the ninth bout wins the event.
Choi opened the match by beating Emura 5-2, and Jeon took the next bout against Sano by 5-4.
Seo fought off some early push from Kaneko and won her duel by 5-2, pushing South Korea's lead to 15-8.
Choi went up against Sano next. The Japanese fencer scored the first four points of that showdown, before Choi got the next five in response to put South Korea up 20-12.
Members of the South Korean women's sabre fencing team celebrate after winning gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan, on Sept. 27, 2026. (Yonhap)
Seo then got two quick points against Emura en route to a 5-3 win, with South Korea now up 25-15.
South Korea then overcame an apparent knee injury to Seo and cruised to the gold.
After Jeon took care of Kaneko 5-2, Seo was leading Sano 4-2 when she slipped and fell, apparently twisting her knee on the way down.
Substitute Kim Jeong-mi came on for Seo and got the one final point to close out that bout, with South Korea now up 35-19.
The score was 40-25 after the Choi-Ozaki match. Jeon only needed five more points for the title, while Ozaki had to get 20 more points -- virtually an insurmountable deficit at that point. And Jeon finished off Japan with plenty of time to spare.
Members of the South Korean women's sabre fencing team celebrate after winning gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan, on Sept. 27, 2026. (Yonhap)
Choi said she was far more pleased to have changed the medal from bronze to gold this time.
"I'm happier that I changed the color to gold," she said. "I'm satisfied that I could help my teammates win gold at their first Asian Games."
After failing to reach the semifinals in the women's sabre individual event last week, Jeon, a former world No. 1, said she tried not to think about the lost duels, but to stay positive and enjoy the pressure.
It was the first time that a South Korean sabre fencer had failed to reach the podium in the individual event at the Asian Games.
"After the individual event, I lost not because of my incompetence but because of my mindset," she said. "For the past two days, I tried to think positively, and that helped me enjoy the competition."
South Korea won bronze in the women's sabre team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
They are now eyeing the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, hoping to repeat the feat of changing the color of their medal to gold.
"I don't think we have a lot of time until the LA Olympics," Jeon said. "I hope to prepare well, manage my injuries and win the team gold."
Members of the South Korean women's sabre fencing team pose for a photo during a medal ceremony after winning gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan, on Sept. 27, 2026. (Yonhap)
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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