South Korean fencer Kim Ji-yeon won bronze in the women's individual sabre event at the 18th Asian Games on Sunday.
Kim fell to Qian Jiarui of China 15-13 in the semifinals at Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) Cendrawashi Hall in Jakarta, picking up South Korea's first medal in fencing here.
There are no third-place bouts -- the losers of both semifinals receive bronze.
Kim, the 2012 Olympic individual sabre champion, was trying to win her first individual Asian Games gold. She settled for silver in the event four years ago while winning the team gold medal.
Ranked seventh in the world, Kim had never lost to the 18th-ranked Qian in their five previous meetings. Kim led early at 5-2 before a seesaw battle ensued, with Qian scoring three straight points to pull to a 5-5 tie.
They kept trading points until it was 11-11. Then Qian picked up three successive points for a 14-11 advantage, one point away from victory.
Kim fought back to close it to 14-13 -- the last point was won after a video review -- but Qian closed out the South Korean with one final attack.
Kim admitted she wasn't able to maintain her focus through the end of the match.
"I don't think I showed everything I had," Kim said. "This was the first day of fencing, and I got nervous trying to get the whole team off to a strong start."
Kim can still salvage her Asian Games in the team event, where she will try to defend the gold medal on Wednesday.
South Korea has set out to win eight of 12 fencing gold medals at stake here. (Yonhap)