Korean B-Boy Hongten misses cut for breaking quarterfinals

Korean B-Boy Hongten took the stage at the Paris Olympics Saturday in front of an energized crowd at La Concorde in the center of Paris but failed to make the cut for the eight-man quarterfinals.

Korea's Hongten in action during the B-Boys round robin at La Concorde in Paris on Saturday at the Paris Olympics. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Korean B-Boy Hongten took the stage at the Paris Olympics Saturday, competing in three throwdowns in front of an energized crowd at La Concorde in the center of Paris but failed to make the cut for the eight-man quarterfinals.

He lost one and drew two of his battles, falling short of one of the top two spots in Group C of the B-Boy round robin preliminary stage to end his run as an Olympian in breaking's Games debut.

Hongten, whose real name is Kim Hong-yul, faced Lee of the Netherlands first. Both dished out performances that won the woos of the stands, but the judges gave the two wins to Lee, the Dutch breaker winning 13 votes and Hongten earning five.

The Netherlands' Lee, right, embraces Korea's Kim Hong-yul after their battle in the B-Boys round robin at the Paris Olympics on Saturday. [AFP/YONHAP]

At the Olympics, breaking is scored on the dancer's originality, technique, execution, musicality and vocabulary — the variety of moves.

Hongten was one of 16 B-Boys who qualified for breaking's inaugural year at the Games.

He faced France's Lagaet next, and the two ended in a draw — though Hongten picked up more votes, with 11 to the French breaker's seven.

And Hongten picked up another draw in his final battle against Jeffro, earning 11 votes while Jeffro got seven.

But the Korean veteran failed to make the first elimination round, ending the round robin in third place. The top two breakers with the best head-to-head records made the quarterfinals.

At 39 years old, Hongten, who also stylizes his name as Hong 10, was the oldest breaker in the B-Boys contest.

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