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[Asian Games] S. Korea sweeps two golds in Greco-Roman wrestling

Oct. 1, 2014 - 19:45 By 윤민식

South Korea raked in two gold medals in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Asian Games on Wednesday, fewer than it had hoped for but enough to dispel concerns that it had ceased to be a premier wrestling force on the continent.

Ryu Han-su opened the night with a 2-0 victory over his Japanese rival Ryutaro Matsumoto in the men's 66㎏ to claim the top podium spot.

Earlier in the semis, the Asian Games debutant had beat Uzbekistan's Elmurat Tasmuradov in a dramatic come-from-behind victory.

Defending Olympic champion Kim Hyeon-woo came next with a title in the men's 75㎏ division. He romped his Japanese opponent Takehiro Kanakubo 4-0 after knocking his Kyrgyzs and Kazakh rivals out of the running earlier.

With Wednesday's gold, Kim became the third South Korean to complete the Asian "grand slam," an honor comprised of the Olympics, world championships, Asian championships and the Asian Games titles. His predecessors are Park Jang-soon, now head coach of the South Korean wrestling team, and Sim Kwon-ho, who currently chairs the nation's wrestling association.

In the men's 85㎏ division, Lee Se-yeol won the silver medal after losing to Rustam Assakalov of Uzbekistan 8-0 in the final.

The 23-year-old barely made past the semis, which he won 3-0 with no discernible techniques deployed. He was seen nearly paralyzed with injuries on his right arm and left leg, the treatment of which stalled the game for a few minutes and left his Kyrgyz opponent at the time befuddled.

Kim Yong-min in the men's 130㎏ added another silver to the host country after his Kazakh rival Nurmakhan Tinaliyev routed him 5-0 in the final. The events took place at the Dowon Gymnasium in Incheon, the Asiad host city west of Seoul.

Wrestling used to be one of South Korea's gold mines, with the nation grabbing at least five titles at every competition between

1986 and 2006. But the country was shut out of golds at the 2010 Asiad and had struggled to make a solid comeback since.

With a total of three gold medals coming from Greco-Roman this year, however, South Korea effectively ended its eight-year wait on wrestling titles.

Earlier in the Games, South Korea's Jung Ji-hyun won the gold medal in the men's 71㎏ Greco-Roman to put an end to the medal drought. (Yonhap)