[Nagoya AG] Song Dabin Defends Home Pride with the Only Taekwondo Sparring Gold

Taekwondo Team Concludes With Three Gold Medals, Including Two in Poomsae

Song Dabin defended her country's pride as the birthplace of Taekwondo by winning the gold medal in the women’s sparring event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

On the 3rd of October, at the Toyohashi General Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Song Dabin defeated China’s Mu Wenzhen in the women’s over 67kg Taekwondo sparring final with a round score of 2-1 (4-2, 4-10, 8-5).

With this victory, Korea concluded the competition having won just one of the eight gold medals in Taekwondo sparring at this Asian Games. Including the two gold medals won in Poomsae, the Korean Taekwondo team earned a total of three gold medals at the event.

Song Dabin is cheering after securing the gold medal by defeating Mu Wenzhe from China in the women's 67kg Taekwondo sparring final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at Toyohashi General Gymnasium, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 3rd. Photo by Yonhap News

Song Dabin overcame Mu Wenzhen after a tightly contested match. In the opening round, both athletes competed cautiously and failed to score for the first minute. With about 50 seconds left, Song scored first with a trunk kick, earning two points, and extended her lead to 4-0 with another strike to the torso about 20 seconds later. Although she conceded two points at the end of the round, she maintained her lead and secured the first round 4-2.

In the second round, Song was the first to concede points. With about a minute remaining, she allowed consecutive points from body and head attacks, giving up five points. Song immediately fought back with a flurry of exchanges but was unable to close the gap and lost the round 4-10.

With the match on the line in the third round, Song took control once again. After about 50 seconds, she landed consecutive body kicks to lead 4-0. Both competitors exchanged two points each, but with around 30 seconds left, Song allowed a head kick and saw her lead narrow to 6-5, putting her under pressure. However, she responded with another body kick to pull ahead 8-5 and regained composure. In the closing seconds, she effectively defended against Mu’s attempts to close the three-point gap with head attacks, securing the victory.

This competition offered a total of 11 gold medals in Taekwondo: two in Poomsae, eight in sparring, and one in virtual Taekwondo. Korea claimed both gold medals in Poomsae through Ha Eun Jeong in the women’s division and Kyu Sung Yoon in the men’s division, but Song Dabin was the only gold medalist for Korea in sparring.

Hyangsik An in the men’s 58kg division, Minju Kwak in the women’s 67kg division, Jinho Moon in the men’s 68kg division, and Sanghyeon Kang in the men’s over 80kg division each won bronze medals, bringing Korea’s final Taekwondo tally to three gold medals and four bronze medals at this event.

If Song Dabin had not won the gold medal, Korea could have suffered its first-ever failure to secure a sparring gold, marking a significant blow to national pride.

It was disappointing to see the heavy favorites for gold eliminated early. In particular, Kim Yujin, the women’s 57kg gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was considered one of the strongest contenders but was eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing 0-2 to China’s Zhang Chuling. Sanghyeon Kang and Jinho Moon, who both captured back-to-back world titles in 2023 and 2025, also failed to meet gold medal expectations, losing in the semifinals and settling for bronze.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.