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South Korea's men's sabre fencing team defeated host France to advance to the final. They are one win away from their third straight Olympic team title. The French fans cheered the home team on, but it didn't affect the Koreans' golden touch.
The South Korean team (ranked No. 1 in the world), comprised of Oh Sang-wook (27, Daejeon Metropolitan Government), Koo Bon-gil (35, Korea Sports Promotion Organization), Park Sang-won (23, Daejeon Metropolitan Government) and Do Kyung-dong (24, Armed Forces Athletic Corps), defeated hosts France (No. 4) 45-39 in the semifinals of the men's sabre team event at the Grand Palais in Paris on Wednesday (Aug. 31).
This secured at least a silver medal for South Korea.
The South Korean men's sabre team is looking to win its third consecutive Olympic title after London 2012 and Tokyo 2020. There was no sabre team event at Rio 2016.
Park Sang-won struggled against Sébastien Patrice in the first round, dropping a 2-5 lead. Taking over the baton, ace Oh Sang-wook scored back-to-back points against Maxime Pianfetti to close the gap, eventually pulling back to 7-6. Oh scored eight points on his own to end the second round 10-7.
In the third round, Koo Bon-gil faced Bolade Afiti. Koo 메이저사이트 gained momentum and finished the third round with a 15-7, 8-point lead.
Round 4 was a battle between Park Sang-won and Pianpetti. Park gained momentum and extended the score to 19-7. The score was 20-9 in favor of South Korea.
The fifth round belonged to Koo Bon-gil, who ended the fifth round with a 25-13 victory.
Oh Sang-wook started the sixth round. Oh overwhelmed his opponent with a flurry of punches to extend his lead to 30-14.
In the seventh round, Koo Bon-gil stood up. He gave up back-to-back points to Pianpetti to take a 30-18 lead. Gubon Gil came back strong and ended the seventh round with a 35-20 victory.
The eighth round belonged to Park Sang-won. He gave up 10 points to Apiti, bringing the score to 40-30 and France within 10 points. Korea brought out ace Oh Sang-wook to close out the game. The home fans filled the Grand Palais with cheers as France closed to 40-32.
Oh won two points and lost seven, bringing the score to 42-37, a five-point deficit. However, the French were unable to overcome the deficit. Oh scored an attack at 44-39 to complete a 45-point run and win the match.
Oh, who won the individual title at the tournament, will be looking for a double. If Oh wins the team title, he will become the first Korean fencer to win two Olympic gold medals, and the first Korean fencer to win two Olympic gold medals.
South Korea will face the winner of the Hungary-Iran semifinal for gold in the final, scheduled for 3:30 a.m. ET on Aug. 1.