[Asian Games] Today's Matches: Gu Bon-gil Aims for 4th Consecutive Win, Kim Seo-young Challenges for 2nd Consecutive Win

'100m Bronze Medalist' Hwang Sunwoo Aims for 800m Medley Gold
Taekwondo 58kg Jang Jun and Judo 81kg Lee Junhwan Also Expected

At the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Gu Bon-gil, the male sabre fencer who served as the male flag bearer for the Korean delegation, is challenging for his fourth consecutive Asian Games title.

Gu Bon-gil has consecutively won the gold medal in the men's individual sabre event since the 2010 Guangzhou Games, followed by the 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.

The toughest opponent is his junior teammate Oh Sang-wook. Oh narrowly lost 14-15 to his senior in the final of the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, conceding the gold medal to him.

Fencing athlete Gu Bon-gil (right) and swimmer Kim Seo-young served as flag bearers and entered the stadium at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held on the 23rd at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, China. In the competition on the 25th, Gu Bon-gil aims for his fourth consecutive Asian Games title in the men's individual sabre fencing event, while Kim Seo-young seeks her second consecutive victory in the 200m individual medley.
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The men's sabre preliminaries start at 10 a.m. The semifinals are scheduled for 7 p.m., and the finals at 8:50 p.m.

The women's foil event, featuring Hong Se-na and Hong Hyo-jin, begins with preliminaries at 1:30 p.m., followed by semifinals at 7:45 p.m. and finals at 9:15 p.m.

The swimming team, currently in its golden era, aims for gold in the men's 800m relay. Hwang Sun-woo, who won bronze in the men's 100m freestyle the previous day, teams up with mid-distance stars Kim Woo-min and Lee Ho-jun, who are challenging for four titles including the relay, 400m, 800m, and 1500m, along with Yang Jae-hoon. A gold medal is highly likely. They were the only Asian team to reach the finals at the 2023 Fukuoka World Championships last July, setting a new Korean record of 7:04.07 and finishing sixth.

The biggest rival is the host country, China. The Chinese team recorded a time of 7:07.29 at the Chinese Swimming Championships held in Hangzhou last May.

The men's 800m relay preliminaries will be held in two heats starting at 12:21 p.m., with the final scheduled for 9:54 p.m.

Kim Seo-young, who also served as a flag bearer alongside Gu Bon-gil at the opening ceremony, is aiming for her second consecutive gold medal in the women's 200m individual medley following the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. The preliminaries in three heats start at 12:05 p.m., and the final will be held at 9:28 p.m.

Taekwondo, which swept gold medals in the poomsae events the previous day, begins its weight category sparring matches. Star athlete Jang Jun is targeting gold in the men's 58kg category. Kang Mi-re will compete in the women's under 49kg category. After morning preliminaries, the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals will proceed from 3 p.m.

Jang Jun of the Taekwondo national team is arriving through Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou, China, on the afternoon of the 22nd.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The newly introduced mixed team event in taekwondo features Park Woo-hyuk, Seo Geon-woo, Lee Da-bin, and Kim Jandi, who are vying for the title of inaugural champions. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals will take place starting at 2 p.m. Korea's quarterfinal opponent is Taiwan.

In judo, competitions will be held in two men's weight classes (73kg Kang Heon-cheol, 81kg Lee Jun-hwan) and three women's weight classes (57kg Park Eun-song, 63kg Kim Ji-jung, 70kg Han Hee-joo). Preliminaries start at 11 a.m., followed by bronze medal matches and finals from 5 p.m.

Lee Jun-hwan in the men's under 81kg category is aiming for gold. Han Hee-joo won bronze in the women's under 63kg judo event at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and is competing in a higher weight class this time to pursue a medal.

The men's and women's table tennis teams will play their team event semifinals. The women's team faces Japan at 12 p.m., and the men's team competes against Iran at 5 p.m.

The women's gymnastics team final is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. At the same time, the women's soccer team will play their second group stage match against the Philippines.

Esports League of Legends preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. The men's and women's handball teams will play preliminary matches against Hong Kong and Uzbekistan, respectively. The men's match starts at 1 p.m., and the women's at 5 p.m.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.