[Report] "Match Analysis Done in 10 Minutes" ... National Fencing Team Hunts for Medals with SK Telecom AI

[Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province = Jang Min-kwon] #. The key technique used by the athlete on the right is a single-lunge attack combined with a surprise distance control move. The sword arm extended in a perfect straight line, maximizing reach. With a deeper knee bend and the shoulders and hips kept level toward the target, the athlete generated explosive power and landed a direct attack that caught the opponent off guard.
This is part of an AI-generated match analysis based on footage from the women's individual epee event at the International Fencing Federation World Cup held in Vancouver in December 2025. Right after a match, it can automatically edit highlight clips of scoring and conceding moments, while closely analyzing an opponent's strengths and weaknesses, including tactical and attacking patterns.
At the 'Team SKT' launch ceremony held on the 26th at the Jincheon National Training Center in North Chungcheong Province, SK Telecom introduced its fencing AI performance analysis system, SKT-FAN (Fencing AI Nexus). The national fencing team, which will compete in next month's 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya, has cut the average match analysis time from about 60 minutes per match to just 10 minutes since adopting SKT-FAN.
When Choi Jong-hyuk, a manager on SK Telecom's sports marketing team and the developer of SKT-FAN, uploaded a video to the system, the AI recognized score changes and automatically generated AI highlights and a timeline. It also tracked the athletes' joint points and movements, much like a wearable sensor.
The system generated AI tactical judgment reports tailored to each event, including foil, epee and sabre, summarizing each athlete's strengths, weaknesses and match characteristics. For scoring situations, it produces scene analyses covering the overview, key techniques and tactical moves, right-of-way and judging rationale, and coaching comments. It also creates individual reports with an overall assessment of career performance and recommended training guidelines for a complete master-level program. Coaches then review and refine the reports before deciding whether to use them in actual performance analysis. Won Woo-young, the national sabre coach, said, "One of SKT-FAN's strengths is that AI can reveal even the smallest changes in athletes, such as footwork, as well as their tendencies."

The national fencing team plans to use SKT-FAN not only in training but also in live competition at the 2026 Asian Games to adjust strategy in real time. Looking ahead, it also plans to advance its AI performance analysis capabilities for the LA28 Olympics.
Manager Choi said, "AI has reduced analysis time and created an environment where athletes and coaches can focus solely on improving performance," adding, "Our goal is to cut the repetitive video analysis work of performance analysts by up to 90%."
Meanwhile, the launch ceremony was organized ahead of the Asian Games to cheer on the athletes sponsored by SK Telecom. A total of eight athletes attended, including fencing athletes Oh Sang-uk, Do Gyeong-dong, Song Se-ra and Jeon Ha-young, weightlifter Park Hye-jeong, swimmer Hwang Sun-woo, sprinter Joel Jin Nwamadi and sport climber Noh Hyun-seung. SK Telecom has served as the chair company of the Korean Fencing Federation for 24 years. It will also dispatch additional medical trainers and performance analysts to help manage the athletes' condition and improve their performance. The company will produce a variety of in-house content to support and encourage them.
Kwon Young-sang, head of the Computing Support Office at SK Telecom, said, "We hope that SK Telecom's AI technology, our long experience in sports sponsorship and the public's passionate support will become a strong source of strength for Team SKT athletes," adding, "We will provide full support so that the athletes' challenges lead to great results and move the public deeply."
[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter