Korea wins silver in women's épée team fencing at Asian Games

The Korean women’s épée fencing team won the silver medal at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Friday, failing to defend its Asiad title.

The quartet of Song Se-ra, Lim Tae-hee, Yang Seung-hye and Lee Hye-in lost to China 45-28 for the gold medal at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan, some 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) south of the main host city of Nagoya.

Korea won the event at the previous Hangzhou Asian Games but finished runner-up at this year’s Games.

Song, who won the individual épée title on Tuesday, took silver in the team event.

Singapore and Kazakhstan received the bronze medals.

Team fencing events are contested in nine head-to-head bouts. Each bout is three minutes long and ends when one team’s score reaches a multiple of five.

The team that first scores 45 points or has more points than the opponent at the end of the ninth bout wins the event.

In the épée event, fencers use a thrusting weapon to target the entire body.

Korea won the first two bouts to build a narrow 7-6 lead.

However, China pushed back, took a 15-13 lead in the third bout and maintained that momentum until the ninth bout.

Song said that they made many mistakes out of nerves against the Chinese fencers, whom they have met so many times in the Asian and world competitions.

“We’ve fought against Chinese athletes so many times, and we are well aware of their techniques and timings, but we let them thrust us,” she said. “I wanted to win gold with my teammates but failed. I think that I’ve still got a long way to go.”

However, the defeat renewed her motivation to work harder for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“It was a one-sided defeat, and that gave us a lot of homework. We’ll work harder and win against China again,” Song said. “I’ll keep learning and making an effort.”

Meanwhile, in the men’s foil team event, Korean fencers Youn Jeong-hyun, Lee Kwang-hyun, Kim Tae-hwan and Im Cheol-woo won the bronze medal, losing to Hong Kong 45-41 in the semifinals.

Korea had won the foil team title at the 2018 and 2022 Asian Games.

Yonhap