WUXI, China, June 17 (Xinhua) — Iran’s Ali Pakdaman and Kong Man Wai of Hong Kong, China emerged victorious within the males’s sabre particular person and ladies’s epee particular person occasions, respectively, because the 2023 Asian Fencing Championships began right here on Saturday.
China dispatched a sturdy 25-member workforce because the premier fencing competitors in Asia returns to Wuxi following 2016. Leading the squad was Tokyo Olympic girls’s epee particular person gold medalist Sun Yiwen, alongside Shi Yue and Chen Qingyuan, the 2022 Asian Championships girls’s foil gold and silver medalists, respectively.
But it was Lin Sheng who captured a medal for the host nation on Day 1. Lin made it to the ladies’s epee semifinals after defeating her teammate Sun.
Facing off Song Se-ra of South Korea, Lin was tied at 14-14 with a scant 2.9 seconds remaining after relinquishing a two-point lead within the remaining moments, in the end shedding 15-14.
“I think I’m getting back to my best form throughout the season. I’ve made some brilliant moves today,” Lin stated after the match.
“Song is an old opponent who surely knows how to defend me well. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out [how to play better against her], and I think I’ve made some progress,” she added.
World No. 1 Kong secured her third Asian Championships gold after her victories in 2018 and 2022, simply outclassing world No. 2 Song 15-4.
In the boys’s sabre particular person occasion, Yan Yinghui superior to the final 16 however was ousted by Low Ho Tin of Hong Kong, China. In the climactic remaining, Pakdaman saved a number of match factors to edge out Kim Jun-ho 15-14, securing his first Asian Championships gold following a silver end in 2016 in Wuxi.
The subsequent two days will characteristic the remaining particular person occasions, with the workforce occasions happening from June 20 to 22.
The Asian championships additionally serves as a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.