South Korea wins gold in esports at Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games

By Kim Boram

TOKONAME, Japan, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea won the gold medal in the fighting games event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, claiming the first title in esports.

The team of Lee Kwang-noh, Yeon Jea-gil and Bae Jae-min beat Japan 5-2 in the fighting games final at Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, some 35 kilometers south of the main host city of Nagoya, Japan.

The fighting games event includes Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 and The King of Fighters XV, with three gamers playing their respective games.

Saturday's gold is South Korea's first gold medal in esports at the Asian Games in Japan.

Earlier in the day, Kang Dong-shin won silver in puzzle game Puyo Puyo Champions, while Kim Young-chan took bronze in the auto racing game Gran Turismo 7 on Wednesday.

Yeon dropped the opening Street Fighter 6 battle against Kojiro Higuchi by 2-1, but Lee won his match in The King of Fighters XV by 2-1 to even up the overall score.

In Tekken 8, Bae fell to Daichi Nakayama 2-1, as Japan reclaimed its overall lead at 2-1.

But in the next match, contested in The King of Fighters, Lee edged out Akihito Sawada 2-0. The teams were now tied again in the match score at 2-2.

South Korea went up 3-2 when Bae won his Tekken 8 match over Nakayama by 2-1. The South Korean lead grew to 4-2 when Yeon's C. Viper took down Higuchi's Guile by 2-0.

The seventh match went back to Tekken 8, and Bae closed out Nakayama and the Japanese team with his 2-0 win.