South Korea set a world record en route to the final in the women’s compound archery team event on Thursday at the Asian Games.
South Korea scored 238 points out of a possible 240 in the team’s quarterfinals win over Laos, which managed only 215 points.
The competition took place at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field in Incheon. The South Korean archers were Seok Ji-hyun, Choi Bo-min and Kim Yun-hee.
They bettered the previous record held by the United States, whose archers shot 236 points in 2011. The compound event became an Asiad medal sport for the first time here. It’s the first world record by South Korea at this Asiad and the first world best to have ever been set by South Korean archers in compound. South Korea owns all world records in recurve, its traditional strong suit.
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| (From left) Kim Yun-hee, Seok Ji-hyun and Choi Bo-min during the women’s compound archery team event at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field in Incheon on Thursday. (Yonhap) |
Following the win, South Korea defeated Iran 229-222 in the semis and will take on Chinese Taipei for the gold medal on Saturday. Chinese Taipei defeated India 226-224 in the other semis.
In the men’s compound team event, South Korea’s Choi Yong-hee, Min Li-hong and Yang Young-ho displayed world-class prowess, shooting 238 points against Kazakhstan’s 231. They were two points short of breaking the world record set by the United States, which shot 239 points in 2011.
South Korea, which is a premier force in recurve archery, is somewhat of a latecomer in the compound category, having sent its first delegation in the discipline to an international event two years ago, according to the Asian Games organizers.
This year, South Korea hopes to sweep all recurve golds up for grabs for the third straight Asiad. In total, it hopes to win between four to six golds from recurve and compound combined.
“The archers are all in good form, but I’ve advised them not to get too excited since there are more events left,” said Jang Young-sool, head coach of the archery delegation here. (Yonhap)
