Asian Games, Medal hopeful Fencing Koo Bon-gil Men’s saber individual event 4th straight challenge…
Aiming for Korea AG’s most gold medals
Koo Bon-gil
Koo Bon-gil (34, National Sports Promotion Agency),
who has been a mainstay of the Korean men’s fencing saber national team for over 10 years,
dreams of a ‘new history’ at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
From Guangzhou in 2010 to Jakarta/Palembang in 2018, Koo Bon-gil reached the top of the individual competition three times in a row at the Asian Games.
Asian Games
Even in the team event, he had five gold medals in the Asian Games alone, helping Korea win two consecutive victories in the 2014 Incheon Games and the 2018 Jakarta Games. 바카라사이트
In the team event at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, he won a silver medal, with a total of six medals.
If Koo Bon-gil succeeds in winning 4 consecutive victories in the individual event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on September 25th,
adds two gold medals by contributing to Korea’s victory in the team event held on the 28th,
he will become the main character of ‘the most gold medals ever for a Korean player in the Asian Games’.
Among former Korean players, Park Tae-hwan in swimming, Seo Jeong-gyun in horseback riding, Yang Chang-hoon in archery,
Nam Hyun-hee in fencing, and Ryu Seo-yeon in bowling tied for first place with the most gold medals in the Asian Games with 6 each.
Now, the opportunity has come for Gu Bon-gil, who is chasing those who are not playing as players, by one difference, to rise to the top spot jointly or alone.
Bongil Koo is the only Asian Games fencing player with the record of ‘three consecutive victories in the individual competition’,
if he succeeds in winning the championship in this competition, this can also be increased to four times.
As this may be the last Asian Games for him, who turns 37 in 2026,
when the next tournament will be held, Gu Bon-gil’s will to leave his name in history is stronger than ever.
First International Competition
Since this is the first international competition held since he had a son in March of this year,
wanting to be a proud dad also serves as a great motivation for him.
After winning two gold medals in the Asian Games five years ago,
he continued to play an active part in the national team,
such as winning two consecutive team matches with colleagues at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics,
but Gu Bon-gil also suffered a slump for a while.
Having risen to No. 1 in the world rankings with his unique sense and aggressive fencing style,
at some point he couldn’t properly demonstrate his ‘offensive fencing’,
after winning the silver medal at the World Cup held in Luxembourg in March 2020,
news of winning the individual competition at international competitions was cut off for about two years.
However, in May of last year, he won the silver medal at the Padua Grand Prix in Italy,
signaling a revival, and at the Asian Championships held in Seoul in June of last year,
he regained the top spot in the individual event for the first time in four years and helped to win the team event,
revealing the prospects for the Asian Games.
Budapest World Cup
In March of this year, he won a bronze medal in the individual event at the Budapest World Cup.
The role of Gu Bon-gil is important even for a rebound in the Asian Games,
while Korean fencing has recently stagnated somewhat on the international stage,
as the men’s saber national team failed to win the individual prize
at the World Championships last month and failed to challenge for a fifth consecutive victory in the team event.
At the recent Asian Games D-30 Media Day, Bongil Koo said,
“This Asian Games is a tournament where many records can be set.
I think that this opportunity is not given to everyone,
so I will do my best to set records.”
I believe that if I think it is the last time and overcome it with mental strength, my dream will come true.”
In the last two Asian Games men’s individual saber finals,
Korean players had a ‘fight in the house’ for the gold medal.
Incheon Games
In the 2014 Incheon Games, Koo Bon-gil won the championship
by beating senior Kim Jung-hwan (National Sports Promotion Corporation) 15-13, and in Jakarta in 2018,
defeated junior Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall) 15-14 and won the gold medal.
Reproducing this scene again is the scenario that the men’s saber national team, including Gu Bon-gil, dreams of.
However, he has to overcome formidable challengers, including Ali Parkdaman (Iran, 10th),
who is the individual winner of this year’s Asian Championship and currently has the highest world ranking among Asian players.
Koo Bon -gil emphasized, “In Asia, the skills of Japanese and Iranian players have risen a lot, so we need to be careful.
China, which is hosting the Asian Games again in 13 years,
is expected to have a strong territorial attitude, so we are preparing.”