Korea’s quest for a second straight medal in the women’s epee team fencing ended after just one match Tuesday.
Korea lost to France 37-31 in the quarterfinals at Grand Palais in Paris. The team of Song Se-ra, Kang Young-mi, Lee Hye-in, with Choi In-jeong on the sidelines as an alternate, never once held a lead against the home team.
The same four fencers won the silver medal in Tokyo three years ago, but lost their very first contest in the French capital this time, with Choi having come out of retirement in a bid for another Olympic medal.
Team fencing events are contested in a series of head-to-head bouts. Each match is three minutes long but it ends when one team’s score 한국을 reaches a multiple of five.
The objective is to score 45 points first or to have more points than the opponent at the end of the ninth bout.
Song lost the opening bout to Marie-Florence Candassamy 3-2, and South Korea never led at any point after each bout.
By the end of the seventh bout, France held a 20-17 lead. Candassamy then defeated Lee 3-2 in the eighth bout to give France a 23-19 advantage heading into the final bout.
Auriane Mallo-Breton, who had earlier won the individual silver medal, finished off South Korea thanks to a 14-12 win over Song.