Koo Bon-gil, Who Stopped at the Threshold
[Asian Games] Koo Bon-gil, Who Stopped at the Threshold of his 4th Consecutive Lloss, "I Will aim for Korea"s Most Gold in Nagoya"
He won the silver medal in the individual event after being blocked by his junior Oh Sang-wook, whom he defeated five years ago... “The challenge of winning 4 times in a row is an honor in itself”
“I am as happy that Oh Sang-wook won the gold medal as I am winning 4 times in a row… I will win the gold medal in the team event.”
Koo Bon-gil (Korea Sports Promotion Foundation), who missed his fourth consecutive men"s saber individual fencing title in the Asian Games by one shot, expressed his "relief" even more as he congratulated his junior, Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall), who surpassed him and won the championship.
After finishing the men"s saber individual finals at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Hangzhou University of Electronics Gymnasium in China on the 25th, Koo Bon-gil said, "I am not disappointed that I was not able to achieve the record of four consecutive wins because it was easier said than done.
“I am as happy that Oh Sang-wook won the gold medal as I am of losing four times in a row,” he said.
Koo Bon-gil, who won the men’s saber individual event in succession at the 2010 Guangzhou, 2014 Incheon, and 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, achieved the milestone of 4 consecutive wins in this competition. Coincidentally ,
he met Oh Sang-wook, who was his opponent in the finals at the Jakarta Games, in the finals again this year, and Koo Bon-gil, who won by one point five years ago and achieved his third consecutive title, lost 7-15 this time, giving up the gold medal to his junior.
Koo Bon-gil, who said, "Before entering the game, we "fighted" to be cool, work hard, and compete in good faith," said Gu Bon-gil, who pointed out the loss by saying, "I became a lot more impatient in the second half and had less time than Sang-wook."
He continued, "During the final match in Jakarta, Sang-wook"s military service issue was at stake, so I felt uncomfortable even after I won, but today"s silver medal is more comforting and happy than the gold medal from back then," and added, "I feel relieved and happy because I did my best and competed without regrets."
He said, “Sang-wook came back after suffering an injury (ankle ligament surgery in November of last year), and now I think he has regained his pre-injury skills,” and added, “Next year’s Paris Olympics will be no problem.”
He served as the flag bearer for the Korean team at the opening ceremony of this tournament, and his status was recognized enough to be selected by the tournament organizing committee as the most noteworthy fencing player. Although he lost in the final, he still showed off his top-level skills in Asia.
In the quarterfinals, against a Chinese player with the support of home fans, he was pushed to the brink with an ambiguous decision at 10-14, but won a huge victory. In the semifinals against Yousif Alshamlan (Kuwait), he overturned the initial 1-5 disadvantage. He won and advanced to the finals.
Koo Bon-gil said, “It was an honor in itself to challenge for four consecutive wins, and I want to praise myself,” and added, “I will do my best to win the gold medal in the team event (28th).”
When asked, "Aren"t you dreaming of competing with Oh Sang-wook at the Paris Olympics?" he smiled and said, "That"s just wishful thinking."
However, Koo Bon-gil did not hide his desire to set the record for having the most gold medals for a Korean player at the Summer Asian Games.
The record for the most gold medals won by a Korean athlete in the all-time Summer Asian Games is currently six, held by swimming"s Park Tae-hwan and fencing"s Nam Hyun-hee.
If Koo Bon-gil, who has five gold medals, wins two gold medals in this competition, he could surpass them and become the sole first place, but if he fails in the individual competition, he can achieve the "most tie" in the team competition.
This competition was not enough to make 7.
He pledged, "I told my colleagues that if I don"t win the gold medal this time, I will go to the Nagoya Asian Games (2026).
Even if I can"t compete in the individual event, I will work hard to win at least the team event and leave my name in history."