Olympics held in fencing country... The determined sabers Oh Sang-wook and Koo Bon-gil
Signboard Oh Sang-wook "A memorable 'Paris' Olympics... Now I have to do 'fencing training'"
As the opening of the Olympic Games held in France, the 'home country' of fencing, is only 80 days away, Korea's leading saber players are also bracing themselves.
Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall, 5th), who has the highest men's saber world ranking among Korean players, performed below expectations at the International Grand Prix held at the SK Handball Stadium in Seoul Olympic Park on the 6th.
He lost 12-15 to Filip Dolejvic of the United States and fell in the quarterfinals. 파워볼게임
Ahead of this tournament, expectations were high that Oh Sang-wook would achieve his third consecutive home victory.
Oh Sang-wook won the competition in 2019, and the competition was not held due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), but he maintained the top spot last year when it resumed after four years.
However, it is said that Oh Sang-wook and the coaching staff predicted that even if they did well, there was a high possibility that they would only advance to the semifinals.
He had just recovered from injuries such as his wrist and ankle, and he still lacked the sense for actual combat.
In fact, on this day, Oh Sang-wook grabbed his right ankle three times and complained of pain.
Oh Sang-wook, who met with reporters after the game, said, "It only hurt at that moment.
It wasn't an injury. It was a little sprained and it hurt for about two minutes."
Oh Sang-wook, who said, "I'm not in any pain right now," admitted that he did not perform satisfactorily during training.
He looked back and said, "I expected it to be like this.
It didn't go well when I practiced," and "I think I was a little negligent when exercising.
I would have had better results if I had trained mainly on fencing, but that's a little disappointing."
If we have focused on physical training so far, we believe that with the Olympics just 80 days away, we need to focus on 'fencing practice', including techniques, in earnest.
This Paris competition is also special for Oh Sang-wook, the gold medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.
It is a competition held in France, the home of fencing.
The Grand Palais, where fencing competitions are held, is also a famous attraction, and it is also close to the Eiffel Tower and the Elysee Palace.
Oh Sang-wook, who had a firm look on his face and resolved to “work harder until the Olympics,” also relaxed a little when the story about Paris, the venue of the competition, came up.
Oh Sang-wook said, "I'm really looking forward to it. I heard
that the stadium is close to the Eiffel Tower, and considering the scenery, I think it will have a special meaning. I think it will be a lot of memories as we are playing in the most famous place in Paris." said.
Paris is not a very friendly place for Korean players such as Oh Sang-wook.
They have to endure hostile cheering from the French people, who take pride in fencing.
Sangwook Oh said, "We play a lot of games in Europe.
We have always played in that environment, and we will continue to play in that environment, so I think it will be okay."
Koo Bon-gil (Korea Sports Promotion Foundation), the eldest member of the national team, lost 12-15 in a close match with world number one Sandro Bazadze (Georgia) and was eliminated in the round of 16. Koo Bon-gil reflected,
"I wanted to win as it was a competition held at home, but it was disappointing.
However, my condition has improved recently and I am satisfied with my performance."
He continued, "As the eldest brother of this competition, I told the players that our goal is the Olympics, so they should play with less pressure.
They were young players, so they seemed inexperienced and nervous.
There are about two months left until the Olympics, so I will try to achieve good results." He said.
Koo Bon-gil, who predicted that this would be his last Olympics, said, "I haven't won an individual medal in the four Olympics so far.
My goal is to win a medal in the individual event, regardless of the color."
