S. Korean medal streak ends; football hopes dashed

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 13 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s medal-winning streak at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics came to a screeching halt at four days on Saturday.

South Korea was shut out of medals for only the second time in the ongoing Olympics, with its athletes falling short of the finals in fencing and shooting.

There was no medal at stake in men’s football Saturday, but South Korea will never get a chance, after losing to Honduras 1-0 in the quarterfinals in Belo Horizonte, north of Rio.

It was the marquee event for South Korea, and they outshot Honduras 16-6. Goalkeeper Luis Lopez made some brilliant saves, in particular foiling several chances by forward Son Heung-min.

South Korean forward Son Heung-min stays on the ground following the team’s 1-0 loss to Honduras in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic men’s quarterfinals in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on Aug. 13, 2016.

Son committed a turnover that directly led to Honduras’ goal in the 59th and failed to atone for that mistake.

In men’s golf on Saturday, An Byeong-hun shot a one-under 70 and sits nine strokes back of the leader, Justin Rose of Britain, at three-under 210.

The bronze medal place is currently occupied by Marcus Fraser, at nine-under.

An said he feels he’s capable of going six- to seven-under in Sunday’s final round, and that should give him a good chance of winning a medal.

The second Korean in the field, Wang Jeung-hun, took himself out of contention with a six-over 77 Saturday. He’s tied for 51st at six-over 219.

South Korea’s futility in table tennis continued, as the women’s team lost to Singapore 3-2 in the quarterfinals.

South Korea led 2-1 after one doubles and two singles matches, but Singapore won the last two singles matches to make it to the final four.

Earlier in the Olympics, the country failed to win a medal in the men’s and women’s singles. The men’s team will carry the last hope into Sunday’s quarterfinals.

South Korean table tennis player Suh Hyo-won takes a break during the women’s team quarterfinals against Singapore at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Aug. 13, 2016.

In fencing, the women’s sabre team lost to Ukraine in the quarters, and had to beat France and Poland to finish fifth.

Pistol shooter Kim Jun-hong missed out on the final by two spots in the men’s 25m rapid fire event, finishing eighth among 26 shooters.

In badminton, the No. 1-ranked men’s doubles team of Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong finished second in Group A after losing to Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov of Russia on Saturday.

Lee and Yoo had already clinched a quarterfinals berth.

A second Korean pair, Kim Gi-jung and Kim Sa-rang, won Group C after beating Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) on Saturday.

In all, five South Korean pairs — two men’s, two women’s and one mixed — advanced to the quarterfinals.

South Korea fell from fifth to ninth place in the medal standings in gold medal order with six gold, three silver and four bronze medals. The U.S. remained atop with 24 gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze medals, followed by China with 13 gold, 11 silver and 17 bronze medals. Britain is in third place with 10 gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze medals.

North Korea, with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals, is ranked 24th.