Park Ji-hee Takes Silver in Asian Games Fencing Debut

Park Ji-hee, the face of South Korea's women's foil team, won a hard-earned silver medal in the individual event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Park, ranked 23rd in the world, lost 4-15 to Japan's Yuka Ueno, the world No. 3, in the women's individual foil final on the 23rd at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was South Korea's third fencing medal of the Games, following Song Se-ra's gold in the women's individual epee and Yoon Jung-hyun's bronze in the men's individual foil a day earlier.

Park fell short of gold but reached the final in her first Asian Games, restoring a foil finals streak that had lapsed since the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. In women's foil, Nam Hyun-hee won back-to-back individual titles at the 2006 Doha and 2010 Guangzhou Games, and Jeon Hee-sook followed with consecutive golds at the 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.

At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, however, Hong Se-na's bronze was the country's best individual result.

Park cruised past India's Mina Naorem 15-3 in the round of 32 and beat Hong Kong's Valerie Cheung 15-9 in the round of 16. She ceded the early advantage to the Philippines' Samantha Catantan in the quarterfinals before turning the bout around from the midway point for a 15-10 comeback win that secured a medal. In the semifinals she edged Volobueva, ranked 51st but physically imposing and dangerous on the counterattack, in a back-and-forth bout.

The final proved difficult. Ueno was the individual silver medalist at the Hangzhou Games and a member of Japan's bronze-winning team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Park conceded points from the outset and trailed 0-8 after the first round.

She switched blades in an attempt to shift the momentum but could not break through Ueno, who relied on precise attacks. After falling behind by 12 straight points, Park kept her hopes alive with three consecutive touches but ultimately failed to close the gap.

Mo Byeol-i of Incheon Yeongjong-gu Office, who also competed, was eliminated in the round of 16 with a 7-15 loss to Japan's Komaki Kikuchi.

Park will team up with Mo and her other teammates in the team event on the 26th in a bid for another medal.