Sun Yiwen (right) of China competes against Song Se-ra of South Korea in the women's epee individual quarterfinal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Sept 24, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

HANGZHOU - China's Chen Haiwei secured silver in the men's foil individual as fencing began at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sunday. However, Olympic champion Sun Yiwen did not make it to the semifinal.

Chen clinched a comeback victory in a quarterfinal against Chinese Taipei's Chen Yi-Tung. He then easily defeated Hong Kong's Choi Chun Yin Ryan to reach the final. In the final, Chen faced Cheung Ka Long of Hong Kong, China, and lost 15-2 to the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist.

"I'm satisfied with my overall performance today, especially after I made it into the final," said the bronze medalist of the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. "I knew it would be difficult to win gold because my opponent is quite strong. He was better prepared in all aspects."

In the women's epee individual, Sun Yiwen advanced to the quarterfinal after defeating compatriot Xu Nuo. She then faced world No. 5 Song Se-ra of South Korea in their third face-off of the year. Sun had previously lost to Song in the World Cup in Fujairah, UAE, but won in the World Championships in Milan, Italy

Chen, who secured his individual berth less than two weeks before the Hangzhou Asian Games due to a national team adjustment, said, "I'm always ready to compete. But the individual event has always been tough for me, as it has more rounds and runs longer."

"We are quite a competitive team," Chen added about the team event scheduled for September 27. "We will do our best to win."

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In the women's epee individual, Sun advanced to the quarterfinal after defeating compatriot Xu Nuo. She then faced world No. 5 Song Se-ra of South Korea in their third face-off of the year. Sun had previously lost to Song in the World Cup in Fujairah, UAE, but won in the World Championships in Milan, Italy.

Sun began the third round with a one-point lead but was overtaken by Song, losing three consecutive points. Unable to recover, Sun finished in sixth place.

"I didn't control the distance well. I wanted to slow down a little bit when I was leading, but my opponent was rather fast-paced. She would push forward whenever I attempted to open up the distance. I was not cautious enough on her moves," the 31-year-old explained.

Looking ahead, Sun will lead China in their quest for a third consecutive women's epee team title at the Asian Games on Wednesday. They currently rank 10th, behind world No. 1 South Korea and No. 9 Hong Kong, China.

"I think the Asian Games is even harder than the Olympic Games that multiple teams are ranked in top 16," Sun noted. "We will take it step by step."

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Choi In-jeong of South Korea defeated compatriot Song to win the women's epee gold.

The women's foil individual and men's sabre individual events will be held on Monday.