Fencing-South Korea retain their title in men's sabre at Paris Games

PARIS :Reigning champions South Korea left almost no room for suspense in the men's sabre team event, beating Hungary and winning their third consecutive title at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.

Already crowned on Saturday in the individual event, Oh Sang-uk delivered the coup de grace in a 45-41 win against the 2023 world champions.

The final bout was at first a tight one, until South Korea's Do Gyeong-dong gave his team the upper hand by scoring 5-0 against Krisztian Rabb.

Hungary were unable to recover despite Aron Szilagyi's very best efforts, scoring eight touches against Oh, who was less fiery on the piste than in previous bouts.

It confirmed South Korea's dominance in the event, after they were beaten by Hungary in the final at the 2023 World Championships. The world number ones were the world champions in 2022, 2019, 2018 and 2017.

France claimed the bronze, beating Iran by a comfortable 45-25 after being eliminated by South Korea in the semi-finals 45-39.