The men's sabre fencing team, ranked number one in the world, defeated Germany to advance to the team event final. The team, consisting of Kim Jeong-hwan (38), Gu Bon-gil (32), Oh Sang-wook (25), and substitute Kim Jun-ho (27), overcame Germany 45-42 in the semifinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics team event held on the afternoon of the 28th at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.
They struggled in the early stages. In the first round, they were narrowly behind 4-5 due to losing momentum, and in the second round, the score gap widened to 6-10. In the third round, the eldest member Kim Jeong-hwan scored 4 points to mount a fierce comeback. However, they soon conceded consecutive points and entered the fourth round trailing 11-15. Gu Bon-gil, wielding his sword, reversed the atmosphere. With swift attacks and agile movements, he quickly turned the score around to 20-18. Oh Sang-wook, who took over the baton, also performed well against Max Hartung, finishing the fifth round at 25-21.
Germany wavered briefly but did not relinquish control. In the sixth round, Javo Matthias fought hard against Kim Jeong-hwan and reversed the score to 30-29. The team regained the lead with Gu Bon-gil’s sharp attack, making it 35-33. In the eighth round, Kim Jeong-hwan made up for his mistake, and Oh Sang-wook maintained the momentum, reaching 45 points before Germany.
The team, which won the gold medal at the 2012 London Games, is the defending champion in this event. The men's sabre team event was not held at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games due to event rotation. If they overcome Italy at 7:30 p.m. today, they will achieve back-to-back Olympic golds over nine years.
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