[ASIAN GAMES] S. Korea’s Jang Se-yun wins silver in women’s judo

NAGOYA, Japan — Korea’s Jang Se-yun won the silver medal in the women’s -52-kilogram judo event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday, grabbing the country’s first judo medal at the Games.

Jang lost to Sita Kadamboeva of Uzbekistan by hansoku-make, or disqualification, in the event’s final at Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, central Japan.

It is Korea’s first judo medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Xu Aoyu of China and Kokoro Fujishiro shared the bronze medals.

Following two ippon (full point) wins in her round-of-16 and quarterfinal matches, Jang met Japan’s Kokoro Fujishiro in the semifinals and advanced to the final after her opponent received a third shido, or yellow card, during sudden-death overtime.

It was the first time that Jang had beaten Fujishiro in four meetings.

In the final, Jang and Kadamboeva went through the regulation four minutes with two shidos each.

The sudden-death overtime was tightly contested, but Jang was given a third shido and the gold medal went to Kadamboeva.

In judo, receiving three shidos in a single match automatically results in a red card, or hansoku-make.

“I’m so disappointed with the result and myself. It’s already happened, and I can’t do anything more,” Jang said after the match, citing her 3-0 head-to-head record with the Uzbek judoka.

“I didn’t take it easy because she is strong and has won many medals at international competitions,” she said. “I should’ve learned more skills against her.”

Nevertheless, Jang believed that the silver medal would give her fresh momentum heading into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“I beat a player that I hadn’t beaten before today, while I lost to the player that I hadn’t lost to,” she said. “Today’s final loss will be a good stimulus to push me to the Olympics. I’ll work harder and do my best.”