Fencing: China and Korea dominate again

China and Korea once again produced a masterclass in fencing to reach yet another final in the men's team epee competition at Al-Arabi Indoor Hall after convincing wins over IR Iran and Kazakhstan respectively.

In the first semifinal, China, who dismissed Kuwait 45-24 in the quarterfinals, fought another dominant match against IR Iran to win by the same scoreline. IR Iran got off to an awful start, scoring only three points in the first four bouts compared to China's 10, and were always chasing the game.

China's Dong Guotao won bout five 15-9 to increase the lead to 25-12, and the Chinese fencers stepped off the throttle in the last four bouts as they comfortably saw out the match.

The second semifinal of the afternoon saw Korea overpower Kazakhstan 45-33 in a less one-sided affair than the first last four match. But Korea, who beat Uzbekistan 45-21 in the quarterfinals, were once again always ahead and never looked like losing their lead.

With a 24-19 advantage after the sixth bout, the match effectively went Korea's way when Kim Won Jin outfought Sergey Shabalin 5-0, to extend the lead by 10 points. Despite a spirited display late on by Kazakhstan's Sergey Khodos, Korea held on to increase their lead further.

Xiao Jian, China's coach looked ahead to the final with Korea and said. "We will be doing the same as what we did during the individual competition. We need to watch out for their speed and superior footwork."

Meanwhile, Korea coach Cho Hee Jai said, "Obviously they [China] are the strongest opponents. It will be a real tough match. However, today my fencers are doing well. If they fence like this, I reckon we can beat them.

"Wang Lei is the most dangerous opponent. He is tall and strong. He is not a slim fencer, but he is fast and very flexible. He is a natural fencer. He will be the hardest task for our team."

15th Asian Games, Doha 2006