South Korean wheelchair fencer Cho Eun-hye won the women's individual epee B title by a single point Tuesday, earning the country's first fencing gold medal since the Asian Para Games began in 2010.
Cho, 41, captain and oldest member of the South Korean women's fencing team, defeated Thailand's Saysunee Jana 15-14 in the final at Inae Sports Center in Nagoya at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games.
Cho, who won bronze medals in the individual sabre B and women's team epee events at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games held in 2023, claimed her first gold medal in her second appearance at the competition.
It was also South Korea's first fencing gold at the Asian Para Games.
At the predecessor FESPIC Games, Kim Gi-hong won gold in the individual epee event at the 2006 Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Cho faced a formidable opponent in Jana, who swept the individual epee, foil and sabre B titles at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Cho scored the opening point and gradually built a lead, finishing the first period ahead 8-6.
She gained another point from an opponent's penalty in the second period and extended her lead to 14-8, leaving her one point from the title.
Jana then mounted a comeback. Cho ended the second period leading 14-12 but conceded two straight points in the third to allow Jana to draw level at 14-14.
With the gold medal riding on the final point, Cho regained her composure. After two simultaneous hits failed to decide the contest, she scored the winning touch to secure the title.
Cho, a former makeup team chief for the South Korean crime film "The Outlaws," suffered a spinal cord injury in a fall in 2017 that left her paralyzed from the waist down.
She discovered wheelchair fencing through a television news report while undergoing rehabilitation the following year and reached the top of the Asian Para Games podium eight years after taking up the sport.
Cho will seek another gold medal with her teammates in the women's team epee event Wednesday. A victory would give her two gold medals at the Games.
(This article was produced with the assistance of AI. — Ed.)
