South Korea's men's epee fencing team won a hard-earned silver medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
The Korean squad, ranked seventh in the world and made up of Park Sang-young, Jang Hyo-min (both Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall), Nam Yeon-ho (Korea National Sport University) and Kwon O-min (Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps), lost 42-43 in overtime to Kazakhstan, ranked third, in the men's team epee final on the 27th at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
Korea came up just short of reclaiming its first Asian Games gold in 12 years. The country won three straight titles at the 2006 Doha, 2010 Guangzhou and 2014 Incheon Games. It then settled for consecutive bronze medals at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and the 2023 Hangzhou Games. Reaching the final for the first time in 12 years at this tournament, Korea aimed for a return to the top but had to settle for silver after falling at the final hurdle.
Korea received a bye in the round of 32, then beat Uzbekistan 45-33 in the round of 16 and China 45-36 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, it edged Japan — the two-time defending Asian Games champion and silver medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics — by a single point, 38-37, to advance to the final.
In the final, Korea seized the initiative against Kazakhstan, the highest-ranked country in the field. After the first round ended 3-3, Korea took the lead from the second round and at one point stretched the gap to nine points, staying ahead through the seventh round. But the momentum shifted late in the match. In the eighth round, Park Sang-young was overpowered by the 2-meter-tall Sharlaimov, allowing Kazakhstan to close to 34-36.
In the final ninth round, which pitted the two teams' aces against each other, Jang Hyo-min gave up a 37-37 tie to Kirill Prokhodov. After a nerve-racking battle, regulation time ended tied at 42-42, sending the match to overtime. But Korea conceded the decisive touch just seven seconds into the extra period, falling 42-43.
