Korea picks up 2 silver medals at Paris Paralympics

PARIS (Yonhap) -- South Korea has collected two silver medals at the Paris Paralympics as the competition enters its final weekend.

Yoon Ji-yu grabbed silver in the women's singles (WS3 classification) in para table tennis at South Paris Arena 4 on Friday, after losing to Andela Muzinic Vincetic of Croatia in the final by the score of 3-2 (11-7 11-8, 10-12, 10-12, 13-11).

After dropping the first two games, Yoon battled back to take the next two. She held a gold medal point in the deciding fifth set, leading 10-9, but the Croatian won the next point to force deuce before eventually winning it at 13-11.

This was Yoon's second silver medal in Paris, following her second-place finish in the women's doubles.

WS 3 classification is for athletes with no trunk control whose arms are minimally affected by impairment.

In wheelchair fencing, Kwon Hyo-kyeong earned silver following her 15-6 loss to Chen Yuandong of China in the women's epee (Category A) gold medal bout at Grand Palais in Paris.

Kwon reached the final after knocking off the defending champion, Amarilla Veres of Hungary, in the semifinals, but Chen, who won the Asian Para Games individual epee title last year and helped China to the women's foil gold in Paris on Thursday, proved to be too much for Kwon.

Kwon kept things close in the opening period, trailing only 5-3, but Chen pushed her lead to 12-4 by the end of the next period.

Kwon got to within 13-6 in the final frame but didn't win another point.

Category A in epee is for fencers with good trunk control that allows them to bend forward on attack or to bend sideways when trying to dodge a hit. Their fencing arm is fully functional and they have lower limb deficiency or paraplegia.

This was South Korea's first wheelchair fencing medal since 1996. The country's lone gold in the sport came at the 1988 event in Seoul.

Through Friday, South Korea has five gold medals, 10 silver medals and 13 bronze medals to rank 20th in the medal table. With 28 total medals, South Korea has already eclipsed the 24 medals from the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.

The Paris Paralympics will wrap up Sunday.