Min-gyu Kim wins silver medal in Uzbek traditional martial a

Korea won its first ever Asian Games silver medal in Uzbekistan's traditional martial art, Kurash.

Kim Min-gyu (41) won the silver medal after losing to Sadegh Ajaran (Iran) in the final of the Kurash men's under-90kg division at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Xiaoshan Linfu Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on the 2nd.

He is a former member of the national judo team and played a key role in leading the Korean team to the team gold medal at the 2005 Judo World Championships. He also won silver medals at the 2007 and 2009 Summer Universiades.

Kim Min-gyu, who retired from judo in 2014 and transformed into a Kurash athlete, achieved the feat of winning a silver medal at the Asian Games after finishing third at the 2018 World Championships.

Min-gyu Kim, who defeated Ajmal Ishaq Zai (Afghanistan) in the quarterfinals, defeated Khaknazar Nazarov (Tajikistan) in the semifinals and advanced to the finals. He lost in the final against Agrang and had to be content with a silver medal.

Korea Kurash had two players compete five years ago, but failed to produce a winner. In this competition, Kwon Jae-deok in the men's under-66 kg category and Jeong Jun-yong in the men's over 90 kg category achieved the result of winning three medals, including bronze medals.

Kurashi is a traditional martial art from Uzbekistan and is widely enjoyed in Central Asia and the Middle East. You wear a gi similar to judo, and you earn points by knocking down your opponent. The biggest difference from Judo is that lower body attacks are prohibited. In Central Asia, it is common for judo athletes to perform in parallel with Kurash.

It has been held as an official event in the Asian Games since the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. While athletes from Central Asia and the Middle East swept gold medals, Korea also proudly produced medalists.