Byungchul Choi won a bronze medal battle against Andrea Baldini in the men's foil fencing this evening.
Choi started on the offensive and claimed the first point with 12 seconds gone when he took advantage of Baldini leaving his stomach exposed.
The Italian responded positively though and levelled up proceedings 30 seconds into the fight, despite a protest from Choi that his opponent had missed the target.
Choi was then cautioned with two minutes of the opening period remaining for committing an infringement. The yellow card looked to have hampered Choi's concentration and Baldini took full advantage by claiming a point.
Back came Choi, who claimed two points in quick succession, before Baldini added one of his own to bring the scores to three apiece.
The contest was then stopped for several minutes when a dead spot was indentified on the armour of Choi, who was leading 4-3 at the time.
The stoppage appeared to trouble Baldini, with the Italian soon finding himself 6-3 behind. He eventually went into the first break 9-5 down.
Baldini was the stronger of the two fighters in the second period and produced a number of attacks to level up the scores at 14 apiece by the time that the three minutes were up.
That took the match into a sudden death scenario, where the next competitor to score a point would claim third spot.
Following a consultation with the video referee, the crucial point was awarded to 30-year-old Choi, whose strike was illegally blocked by Baldini.
Liam Apicella
