▲ South Korea's Jung Ha-eun performs during the women's poomsae taekwondo semifinal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the Toyohashi Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on October 1.
South Korean taekwondo poomsae national team members Jung Ha-eun (Yongin City Hall) and Yoon Gyu-sung (ROK Army 2nd Corps) have both advanced to the finals after finishing first in their respective semifinal groups at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Competing in the women's individual semifinals at the Toyohashi Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Jung scored an average of 8.930 points across recognized poomsae and free style poomsae to secure first place in her group and a spot in the finals.
In the first match performed with the recognized poomsae Goryeo, Jung earned 9.020 points, combining 3.600 points for accuracy and 5.420 points for presentation. She then recorded 8.840 points in the free style poomsae—which is performed to music—with 5.280 points for technical skill and 3.560 points for presentation.
Achieving the highest group scores in both categories, Jung finished ahead of second-place Titari Kaewollaowasu of Thailand (8.720 points) by a margin of 0.210 points in the average score.
Yoon Gyu-sung, competing in the men's division, also secured his ticket to the finals by placing first in Group B of the semifinals with an average of 8.940 points.
Yoon received 8.940 points in the recognized poomsae Geumgang, earning 3.500 points for accuracy and 5.440 points for presentation.
He subsequently recorded 8.940 points in the free style poomsae, combining 5.400 points for technical skill and 3.540 points for presentation.
Poomsae events at this tournament use a cut-off system that determines advancement to the next round based on scores rather than a head-to-head tournament bracket.
In both the men's and women's divisions, the top four athletes from each of the two semifinal groups—totaling eight competitors—advance to the finals to vie for medals.
During the semifinals and finals, competitors perform once in recognized poomsae and once in free style poomsae, with rankings determined by the average of the two scores.
Making their debut appearance at the Asian Games side by side, Jung and Yoon are aiming to win gold medals together.
Jung won the silver medal in the individual event at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games.
After winning a silver medal in the individual free style poomsae at the 2024 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, Yoon rose to the top of the podium in the same event at this year's Asian Championships.
At the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, where poomsae was first adopted as an official Asian Games event, Kang Min-sung won the gold medal in the men's individual competition.
At the 2022 Hangzhou Games, Kang Wan-jin and Cha Ye-eun captured the gold medals in the men's and women's individual events, respectively.
Yoon is aiming for South Korea's third consecutive gold medal in the men's individual taekwondo poomsae at the Asian Games, while Jung seeks the nation's second consecutive gold in the women's individual event.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
