'Is this real?' Finally, Korea's first e-sports medal in Daejeon Fighting! Defeating Japan, the Daejeon Fighting team crowned itself as the inaugural champion of the 'Daejeon' category — a triumphant achievement. [Aichi Nagoya AG]

*This content was translated by AI.

'Veteran fighters in their forties' have succeeded. The South Korean e-sports Daejeon Fighting representative team defeated Japan in the finals, delivering the first gold medal for an e-sports event at this tournament and the 14th gold medal for the South Korean delegation.

The Koo Seong-doen (CEO) team, consisting of Bae Jae-min (41·Kiwoom DRX), Yeon Je-gil (39·KT Rolster), and Lee Gwang-no (44), defeated the host nation Japan with a match score of 5-2 in the best-of-nine finals of the e-sports Daejeon Fighting event at the 2026 Aichi·Nagoya Summer Asian Games held at the Aichi Sky Expo Hall in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 26th.

The Daejeon Fighting event at this tournament was structured as a team competition comprising three games: 'Street Fighter 6', 'Tekken 8', and 'The King of Fighters XV'. The first game was determined by a coin toss, with the losing team selecting the next game.

The South Korean representative team advanced to the finals after winning both group stage matches (finishing first in Group D), defeating Taiwan 3-0 in the quarterfinals and Saudi Arabia 3-1 in the semifinals.

Early in the finals, the match remained tightly contested. In Set 1's Street Fighter 6, Yeon Je-gil lost 1-2, but veteran Lee Gwang-no secured a 2-1 victory in Set 2's King of Fighters, balancing the score. Even after losing Set 3's Tekken 8, Lee Gwang-no achieved a decisive 2-0 win in Set 4's King of Fighters, resetting the match to 2-2.

Ultimately, South Korea gained the upper hand in Set 5, which proved to be the turning point of the match. Bae Jae-min led with his signature character 'Brian', defeating Japan's Nakayama Daichi to secure a 3-2 comeback victory.

Momentum shifted decisively to South Korea. In Set 6's Street Fighter 6, Yeon Je-gil defeated Higuchi Kojiro. Then in Set 7's Tekken 8, Bae Jae-min secured another victory, winning three consecutive sets to clinch the championship. This marked the first gold medal for South Korean e-sports at this tournament, following bronze medals in Gran Turismo 7 (Kim Young-chan) and silver in Puyo Puyo (Kang Dong-shin).

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*This content was translated by AI.