(LEAD) (Asiad) Park Ji-hee wins silver in women's individual foil fencing at Asian Games

Park Ji-hee secured a silver medal in the women's individual foil fencing event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday. The South Korean fencer fell to Yuka Ueno of Japan with a score of 15-4 in the final held at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, a location roughly 35 kilometers south of Nagoya. Park's involvement in the Asian Games was her inaugural appearance.

Bronze medals were awarded to Polina Volobueva of Uzbekistan and Maxine Jie Xin Wong of Singapore. Initially, Park had no points in the first period, trailing 8-0 to Ueno. Her first point arrived in the middle of the second period when she trailed 12-1. Despite amassing an additional three points, Park was unable to mount a successful comeback.

Park marks the first South Korean fencer to reach the Asian Games final in the women's individual foil category in eight years, since Jeon Hee-sook achieved this in 2018. Park will participate in the team event scheduled for Saturday, aiming to achieve South Korea's first gold medal since the 2014 Asian Games. Park noted that the women's foil is less robust compared to the men's sabre and the women's epee.

She also expressed her determination to contribute significantly to the women's foil's presence in the team event based on her performance.