[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] The South Korean women's sabre fencing team failed to overcome the world No. 1 Russia in the semifinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics team event and was pushed to the bronze medal match.
The South Korean women's sabre team, consisting of Kim Ji-yeon, Yoon Ji-su, Choi Soo-yeon, and substitute Seo Ji-yeon, lost 26-45 to Russia in the team event semifinals held on the 31st at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, failing to advance to the final.
Ranked 4th in the world in women's sabre team, South Korea faced a tough opponent Hungary (5th) in the quarterfinals, with only one ranking spot difference, and after a hard-fought match, won 45-40 to enter the semifinals.
However, they were completely defeated in the match against Russia, the No. 1 ranked team, which included the individual gold and silver medalists of this tournament, Sofya Pozdniakova and Sofya Velikaya.
Choi Soo-yeon, who had a shoulder injury since the quarterfinals against Hungary, was unable to exert strength in the second match against Velikaya, falling behind 4-10, and South Korea trailed throughout.
As soon as Yoon Ji-su started her match against Pozdniakova, she made a bold charge and scored six consecutive points to tie the score at 10-10, but then conceded five points in a row, resulting in a significant gap.
Then Olga Nikitina, who faced Choi Soo-yeon, pressed with a faster attack, and after the fourth match, the score widened to 12-20.
Even ace Kim Ji-yeon was overwhelmed by Pozdniakova's momentum, and after the fifth match, the score was 13-25, trailing by double digits. After the sixth match between Yoon Ji-su and Velikaya, the score was 14-30, falling behind by more than double, and the outcome was decided early.
The women's sabre team will clash with Italy at 6:30 PM for the bronze medal.
As with the men's ?p?e team event the previous day, winning the bronze medal in the women's sabre team event would mark South Korea fencing's first Olympic medal in this discipline.
The women's sabre team event was introduced to the Olympics at the 2008 Beijing Games, was excluded in the 2012 London Games due to event rotation, and was held again at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and this time.
South Korea did not participate in the Beijing Games, but in Rio, Kim Ji-yeon, Seo Ji-yeon, Yoon Ji-su, and Hwang Sun-ah competed and finished 5th after losing to Ukraine in the quarterfinals. Having already secured their best-ever result, they are now aiming for a medal.
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