Chinese fencers dominate women's individual sabre at Asiad

China's Qian Jiarui (2nd L) and her teammate Shao Yaqi (1st L) pose for pictures during the awarding ceremony of Women's Sabre Individual Gold Medal Bout of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 19, 2018. Qian won 15-9. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

JAKARTA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese fencers dominated the women's individual sabre field by winning the gold and silver medals at the 2018 Asian Games here on Sunday.

Qian Jiarui beat Kim Ji Yeon of South Korea 15-13, while her teammate Shao Yaqi eliminated Tamura Norika of Japan 15-14 in the semifinals.

Qian then took her first gold medal in the Asian Games by defeating Shao 15-9 in the all-Chinese final, while the bronze medal went to Kim Ji Yeon and Tamura Norika as there are no third-place bouts.

Later on, Dmitriy Alexanin of Kazakhstan snatched the gold of the men's individual epee by defeating Park Sang Young of South Korea 15-12 in the final.

Defending champion Jung Jin Sun of South Korea settled for the bronze as he lost to Alexanin 15-12 in the semifinals.

Fencing is a competition of speed and skill using the sword to hit a target in the body of the opponent and made its debut at the Asian Games in Tehran in 1974.

The 18th Asiad will stage 465 events out of 40 sports, among which 330 events from 32 sports will feature in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The 2018 Asian Games, attracting more than 10,000 athletes, will run through Sept. 2.

China's Qian Jiarui (R) and her teammate Shao Yaqi pose for pictures during the awarding ceremony of Women's Sabre Individual Gold Medal Bout of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)