Fencing Osangwook and Kim Junghwan Advance Side by Side to Round of 16... Gubongil Eliminated

Sabre fencing national team member Gu Bon-gil (left) is competing against Matthias Schabow (Germany) in the round of 32 at the Tokyo Olympics on the 24th at Makuhari Messe Hall, Japan. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Tae-min Ryu] Oh Sang-wook (Seongnam City Hall), the world No. 1 in men's sabre fencing, secured a victory with overwhelming skill in his first match at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

On the 24th, Oh Sang-wook defeated Andrew McKewicz (USA) 15-7 in the round of 32 of the men's sabre individual event held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, advancing to the round of 16. Oh has maintained the world No. 1 ranking in men's sabre individual for two consecutive years and is considered a strong gold medal contender in this tournament.

Seeded No. 1 in the individual event, he started the competition from the round of 32 without competing in the round of 64. Facing McKewicz for the first time in an international competition, Oh initially struggled with somewhat hasty play in his first Olympic match.

However, in the latter part of the first period, he overturned the score to 6-5, and in the second period, he delivered an overwhelming performance, conceding only one point to his opponent to secure a come-from-behind victory.

Kim Jung-hwan (Korea Sports Promotion Foundation), a bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, won a close match against Konstantin Lokhanov (ROC) 15-11 to claim a spot in the round of 16.

On the other hand, Koo Bon-gil (Korea Sports Promotion Foundation) was eliminated after losing 8-15 to Matthias Schwab (Germany). Although Koo is ranked 9th in the world, higher than Schwab (27th), and held a recent 3-match winning streak against him, he conceded five consecutive points early on due to Schwab’s aggressive timing attacks and was unable to reverse the situation.

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