Korea clinches bronze in mixed team recurve archery event at Asian Games
Kang Chae-young and Kim Je-deok bested the Japanese team with a score of 5-1 after getting routed by the Chinese duo in the semifinals.
Kang Chae-young, left, and Kim Je-deok of Korea pose with their bronze medals in the mixed team recurve archery event at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square in Okazaki, Japan, on Oct. 2.
YONHAP
Korea won the mixed team bronze medal in recurve archery at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Friday, unable to take gold in its second straight archery event here.
Kang Chae-young and Kim Je-deok defeated Nanami Asakuno and Junya Nakanishi of Japan by the set score of 5-1 in the bronze medal match at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square in Okazaki, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) southeast of the main host city of Nagoya, Japan.
The mixed team event in recurve made its Asian Games debut in 2018. Korea won gold in 2023, but Kang and Kim failed to make it two in a row after losing to Zhu Jingyi and Liu Mengqi of China 6-0 in the semifinals earlier Friday.
In mixed team matches, each archer takes two arrows per set for four arrows and a maximum score of 40 points. A set win is worth two points, and teams each get one point for a tie. The first team to five points is the winner.
Kang and Kim barely put up a fight against Zhu and Liu in the semifinals. With his six arrows across three sets, Kim hit two 7s and one 8. Kang had four 8s.
Then in the bronze medal match, Korea scored 39 points to Japan's 35 in the opening set for a 2-0 lead. Both teams shot 37 in the second set, and Korea extended its lead to 3-1.
Korea then closed out Japan with a 37-35 win in the third set.
"Having a medal is better than not having any," Kim said. "Obviously, I wanted something shinier, but I just didn't perform well enough. Honestly, I was pretty shaken up after the semifinals. But Chae-young really picked me up with her words. I am grateful for her support."
Kang said she enjoyed training with Kim for the mixed team event and said he would regroup for the men's team event coming up later Friday.
Earlier in the day, Kang, Oh Ye-jin and Lee Yun-ji lost to India in the final of the women's team event, as Korea's Asiad winning streak ended at seven.
"I tried to keep positive thoughts in my mind, but I think my mind became too weak in the wind," Kang said of her showing in the women's event. "At least I was able to come back and win this bronze with Je-deok."
"I think athletes have to do their best under any circumstances and create the best outcomes," Kim said of his own struggles in the blustery conditions. "I will not make any excuses here. I will accept this result."
Yonhap
