South Korea’s women’s national archery team was runner-up after losing to China in both team events at the two World Cups ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, South Korea’s archery team revealed its prospects for the upcoming Paris Olympics as the men’s team topped the overall rankings, winning two consecutive team gold medals.
The women’s archery team, consisting of Shim Ji-hyun (Korea National Sports University), Jeon Hoon-young (Incheon City Hall), and Nam Soo-hyun (Suncheon City Hall), lost 4-5 (54-54, 55-55, 56-54, 52-56, 29-29) after a fierce battle with China to the shoot-off in the final of the women’s recurve women’s team event of the second round of the 2024 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province, on the 26th.
It was the second consecutive silver medal following the first round of the World Cup. The women’s team, which advanced to the tournament round with 2,031 points overall and ranked first overall in the preliminary round, beat Malaysia, Italy and Indonesia in the tournament round to advance to the final. Korea and China, which were tied in the first and second sets, headed for a shoot-off by dividing the third and fourth sets. They scored the same point in the shoot-off, but the distance between the arrow and the target center was longer than that of China, and thus they ended up losing the title.
Gold news was heard at the men’s recurve team final. Korean men’s archery team consisting of Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall), Lee Woo-suk (Kolon), and Kim Je-deok (Yechon County Office) beat Germany 5-1 (57-55, 56-53, 56-56) in the team final to win the gold medal.
It was a feat that ended the disappointment of winning a silver medal in the first competition. The men’s team, which secured the top spot in the tournament with an overwhelming score of 2,051 points overall in the preliminary round, beat Indonesia, Japan and Italy to meet their final opponent Germany.
In the individual recurve competition that took place in the afternoon, Korean players also staged their own performances. First, in the women’s recurve competition, the final match was made between Korean players, who started the tournament by ranking first and second in the preliminary round, and Jeon Hoon-young. The family fought fiercely. In the end, the team beat Jeon, whose arrow was shot at 10 points, and won the first tournament in a row following the first tournament of the last World Cup.
Korean players also met in the men’s individual recurve final match that followed. Kim Woo-jin, who passed the preliminary round in second place, and Lee Woo-seok, who finished in fourth place, faced off, and another match between Korean players headed for the shoot-off, unable to avoid a match during five sets. After a tense match, Lee Woo-suk hit 10 points to beat Kim Woo-jin, who scored only nine points, to win two gold medals in the tournament.
In the compound event, Han Seung-yeon (Korea National Sports University) shot 711 points in the preliminary round, setting a new Asian record. At the same time, she and her teammates Oh Yoo-hyun (Jeonbuk Provincial Government) and Song Yoon-soo (Hyundai Mobis) scored a total of 2,126 points, setting a new world record for the compound women’s team event (2120 points) held by the previous Korean national team.
Han Seung-yeon, who is in her international debut season this year, struggled hard against her semi-final opponent Sarah Lopez of Colombia, ranked third in the world, but lost the final score 142-149 due to her opponent’s skill, heading for the bronze medal match. In the bronze medal match, she tied 147-147 amid an unpredictable and fierce battle against Britain’s Ella Gibson, who is ranked first in the world. Han Seung-yeon calmly shot 10 points in the shoot-off, and Ella Gibson finished with 9 points under pressure, winning the only medal in the Korean compound of the tournament. 안전놀이터
As a result, the Korean team won three gold medals, three silver medals, and one bronze medal in the event, revealing its prospects for the Paris Olympics, which will rank No. 1 in the overall rankings. The six-day event, which involved 353 athletes from 49 countries, was considered a prelude to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The national team will travel to France, where the Olympics will be held, on the 8th of next month for off-season training, before participating in the third round of the 2024 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkiye, from the 18th to the 23rd, for the final tempering ahead of the Olympics.
