(Asiad) Epee fencer Song Se-ra says 'maturity' helped her win Asian Games gold

TOKONAME, Japan, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- With the gold medal in the women's individual epee event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday, Song Se-ra stood on the podium for the second consecutive Asian Games.

This time, however, she took the top position on the podium with the gold medal around her neck, moving up from second place at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

"I'm so happy with this gold medal that I couldn't win three years ago," Song said after beating Kiria Tikanah Abdul Rahman of Singapore 15-8 in the final at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, some 35 kilometers south of the main host city of Nagoya.

"Three years ago, I was in my 20s and an ambitious spirit drove me," she said. "Now that I'm in my 30s, I think my fencing became a bit more mature."

In the women's epee individual event at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Song closely lost to her compatriot Choi In-jeong 9-8 in a sudden-death extra round.

"I haven't won a gold medal at any multisport event, so I really wanted to win this gold," she said. "Although I have world championship titles, winning at the Asian Games means something different to me."

Song won the individual epee event at the 2022 and 2026 world fencing championships, while her previous major individual medal was an Asian Games silver at Hangzhou in 2023.

On her way to the Asian Games gold medal, Song said the quarterfinal against Tang Junyao of China was a crucial moment. Song and Tang had faced each other in the semifinals at the 2026 worlds in July.

"When I saw the draw, I thought it wouldn't be easy," she said. "As we already met at the worlds, she would've known me well. That was a tough game, really."

In the semifinal against Tamaki Terayama of Japan, she was down 14-13 with less than 10 seconds left in the third round. But she made a strong thrust to level the bout at 14-14 and force a sudden-death round.

The final, on the other hand, went more smoothly, as she beat the Singaporean fencer 15-8 before the third round finished.

"I just kept telling myself to concentrate," she said, recalling the last-minute thrust in the semifinal. "I think both of us attacked at the same time, but mine was a little bit quicker. I was lucky."

Song said she will now turn her attention to the team event scheduled for Friday.

"All teams here are strong, so we have to prepare well for the team event," she said. "A medal in the team event means a lot to me, as all team members receive the medal together."