South Korea Wins Fighting Games Gold at Asian Games
South Korea has secured the gold medal in the Fighting Games discipline at the "Aichi-Nagoya" Asian Games. In a decisive final, the Korean squad defeated the tournament favorites, Japan, with a 5-2 scoreline.
The Fighting Games category was introduced as a team event for the first time at this edition of the Asian Games. The South Korean roster featured Bae Jae-min (Tekken 8), Yeon Je-gil (Street Fighter 6), and Lee Kwang-no (The King of Fighters 15). After progressing through the group stages against Kazakhstan and Hong Kong, and overcoming Taiwan and Saudi Arabia, the team entered the final.
With the series tied at 2-2, Bae Jae-min secured a crucial 3-2 victory over Daichi Nakamura using Palkram. Yeon Je-gil followed up with a comeback win against Kojiro Higuchi on C. Viper, utilizing a series of powerful supers to clinch the match.
To finalize the victory, Bae Jae-min returned for the 7th match. Playing his signature Brian Fury, he fought back against Daichi Nakamura's Sergei Dragunov to win the set 3-2. This victory marks South Korea's second consecutive gold in Fighting Games, following Kim Kwan-woo's win at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Notably, the gold-winning trio consists of professional players in their 40s.