(LEAD) (Asiad) S. Korea wins gold in men's team judo competition

(ATTN: UPDATES with details from 5th para; ADDS photo)
By Kim Boram

INCHEON, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean judo squad claimed a gold medal in the maiden men's team event for the first time at the Asian Games, raising the judo gold medal tally to five.

The team of Kim Jae-bum, Bang Gui-man, Kim Sung-min, Choi Gwang-hyeon and Lee Kyu-won beat Kazakhstan 4-1 in the men's team final at Dowon Gymnasium in western Incheon, the host city of the 17th Asiad.

Kim Jae-bum, the winner of the men's 81㎏, became the country's first double gold medalist in judo.

Uzbekistan and Japan shared bronze in the team event that made its Asiad debut in Incheon.

The South Korean women's team won silver after losing to Japan 4-1 in the final.

In the judo team event, five players from each weight class will take on an opponent. All five duels are held, even if one side wins its first three games.

The South Korean men cruised to the finals after straight 5-0 victories over Iran in the quarters and Mongolia in the semis.

Against Iran, South Korea easily advanced to the quarters, as two of the Middle Eastern country's players did not attend the competition.

South Korean judokas overwhelmed the Mongolians, with four players putting down ippon victories.

In the final, South Korea came back from one game down against Kazakhstan.

Choi Gwang-hyeon lost to Azamat Mukanov by waza-ari, but Bang Gui-nam tied the match 1-1 after edging out Dastan Ykybayev.

In the third game, Kim Jae-bum won Aziz Kalkamanuly by ippon as the Kazakhstan opponent used a banned technique.

Lee Kyu-won clinched the gold medal victory to extend the lead to 3-1 by ippon against Timur Bolat.

Kim Sung-min threw Yerzhan Shynkeyev by ippon to celebrate his country's fifth gold medal in judo.

"I'm the first-ever South Korean judoka to win two crowns at the Asian Games," Kim Jae-bum said. "I want to thank everyone for the victory."

Yoon Tae-ho and Gwak Dong-han missed the final line-up, but they also stood on the podium as they played in the quarters as well.

The women's team of Jung Eun-jung, Kim Jandi, Bak Ji-yun Kim Seong-yeon and Lee Jung-eun donned silver medals in the last judo match at the Incheon Asian Games.

First fighter Jung Eung-jung made a comeback victory with a shocking ippon against Misato Nakamura.

But the rest of the four players could not win a single match and the score dropped to 1-4.

brk@yna.co.kr
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