Rio 2016: S. Korean Kim Jung-hwan wins fencing bronze
South Korean fencer Kim Jung-hwan won bronze in the men’s individual sabre at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Wednesday, defeating Iran’s Mojtaba Abedini 15-8. / Yonhap
South Korean fencer Kim Jung-hwan captured bronze in the men's individual sabre at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Wednesday.
Kim defeated Mojtaba Abedini of Iran 15-8 in the bronze medal bout at Caroica Arena 3. Kim had gone 4-1 against Abedini in five previous meetings.
The victory was also a measure of revenge for the South Korean team, as Abedini had knocked off South Korean Gu Bon-gil in the round of 16 earlier Wednesday.
Kim's medal was South Korea's second in fencing in Rio. On Tuesday, Park Sang-young won gold in the men's individual epee.
Kim is the first South Korean man to win an individual sabre medal. He was part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2012 London Games.
Kim charged out to a 6-0 lead to set the tone early, and built an 11-3 lead. The Iranian got to 13-8 late but Kim closed him out with two straight points.
Earlier Wednesday, Kim lost to Aron Szilagyi of Hungary 15-12 in the semifinals.
Szilagyi, the 2012 Olympic champion, scored the first five points of the bout and opened up a 13-8 in the third period.
Kim then earned four straight points to make it a one-point match. The Hungarian, though, proved too much for Kim to handle and scored the final two points to reach the gold medal bout.
Kim said even though he'd won the team gold in London, he wanted to prove himself in the individual event.
"At first, I just wanted to do my best in each and every bout, whether I won a medal or not," he said. "But then I reached the semis and sat one win from a chance to go for the gold. I became more confident."
At the same time, Kim said he got too carried away by emotions and lost his cool in the semifinals.
"I would've performed better in the semifinals if I'd kept my emotions in check," Kim said. "But I was able to regroup and I got back to what I've been doing all along."
Kim said the individual bronze was just as gratifying as the team gold medal because, "I did this all by myself." (Yonhap)