Kim Gwan-woo wins Korea's first-ever Esports gold medal

Korea has won its first-ever Esports gold in Asian Games history. Gamer Kim Gwan-woo defeated Chinese Taipei’s Hsiang Yu-Lin 4-3 in the final round of Street Fighter V: Champion Edition in Hangzhou, China on Thursday.

Gamer Kim Gwan-woo wins the final round of Street Fighter V: Champion Edition on Thursday, handing Korea its first-ever Esports gold in Asian Games history. [NEWS1]

Korea has won its first-ever Esports gold medal in Asian Games history.

Gamer Kim Gwan-woo defeated Chinese Taipei’s Hsiang Yu-Lin 4-3 in the final round of Street Fighter V: Champion Edition in Hangzhou, China on Thursday. Hsiang took silver and his teammate, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Li-Wei, took bronze.

It was Kim’s second time defeating runner-up Hsiang at the Games. He earlier faced Hsiang in a winner’s bracket round, winning it 2-1.

Street Fighter V is, in the simplest of terms, a fighter game that features multiplayer combat, different characters and a storyline.

Kim’s win marks Korea’s second Esports medal at this year’s Asiad, the first time gaming is a medal sport.

EA Sports FC Online pro gamer Kwak Jun-hyuk earlier took bronze after losing to Thailand’s Varanan Phatanasak 2-1 but securing Korea its first-ever Esports medal in Games history on Wednesday.

All eyes, however, will be on the League of Legends final, which is set for Friday at 7 p.m. local time, 8 p.m. in Korea.

The team, led by pro gamer Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, will face Chinese Taipei in their last round after defeating China in the semifinal match. Other stars sure to draw eyes are Choi “Zeus” Woo-je and Ryu “Keria” Min-seok — who along with Lee are members of top Esports team T1.

The other members of the Korean team are Seo Jin-hyeok, Park Jae-hyeok and Jung Ji-hun.

The stakes are high for the six-person team. If a Korean athlete wins gold at the Asian Games, they will be exempt from mandatory military service, which in Korea is required for men between the ages of 18 to 35.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]