WUXI, China, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese women's sabre team rallied past South Korea 45-42 in a rematch of the 2016 final in the Asian fencing Championships here on Sunday.

It seemed that South Korea, ranked top in Asia, would defend their title when they led by 35-26 after seven rounds in the final.

However, Shen Chen, the world No. 2, helped China to regain hope as she cut the deficit to 38-40 in the eighth round. Then Shao Yaqi scored 7-2 against London Olympic Games individual gold medalist Kim Jiyeon to give China the second gold in this tournament so far.

"Beating South Korea makes me very excited because we lost to them last year," said Shen, "We never gave up and it was a team victory."

The loss to China today was not the only disappointment for South Korea as they suffered a last-minute hit in overtime against Japan 32-33 in the men's epee team final.

Park Sangyoung bulit up a 25-18 lead for South Korea in the seventh round, but Jung Seunghwa and Jung Jinsun failed to secure the victory, giving Uyama Satoru an opportunity to hit the winning point for Japan.