Tokyo Olympic gold medalists Kim Woo-jin (31, Cheongju City) and Kang Chae-young (27, Hyundai Mobis) will not be competing at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. They will not be able to compete in their respective events due to the competition for places in the qualification round.
The Asian Games Archery Recurve Qualification Round was held today at the archery range of the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Center in Hangzhou, China. The qualification rounds are held on the first day of the Games to determine seeding for the tournament and determine which athletes will compete in the individual, mixed, and team events.
Normally, other countries allocate events so that every athlete on the roster has a chance to medal. However, Korea selects the athletes who have the best chance of winning a medal, so it is effectively a “last call” for the world’s strongest athletes.
The Asian Games archery entry list is four men and four women. Two archers will compete in the individual competition and three in the team competition. Only one mixed team can compete, with one male and one female athlete. The best shooter from the qualification rounds will compete in the individual, mixed and team events to win three medals, followed by the next best shooter in the individual and team events, and the next best shooter in the team event.
Kim Woo-jin and Kang Chae-young were the two athletes who didn’t make the cut. Kim Woo-jin is a veteran of the Tokyo Olympics, where she won gold in the team event, and is the defending champion, having won gold in the individual event at Guangzhou 2010 and Jakarta-Palembang 2018. Prior to the Games, she was named one of the organizers’ “athletes to watch”.
However, Kim shot 675 points in the qualifying round to finish eighth overall. This was the lowest score among Korean players, including Lee Woo-seok (690), Oh Jin-hyuk (681) and Kim Jeduk (677). Among the men, Lee Woo-seok, who had to settle for silver in both the individual and team events at the Jakarta-Palembang Games, will be competing in the individual, mixed and team events to try to take the top spot.
Kang Chae-young, the World Archery Cup’s No. 2 ranked archer and winner of the World Cup Final individual event, also missed out. Kang 사설토토 finished fifth overall with 668 points, but the top three were all South Koreans. First place went to Lim Tem-hyun (678 points – Korea Gymnastics University), third to Ahn An (672 points – Gwangju Women’s University), and fourth to Choi Mi-sun (672 points – Gwangju Bank).
With both the men’s and women’s qualifying rounds complete, archery will begin the main competition on Sunday morning with the recurve and compound mixed tournaments. The Korean team has set a goal of winning a total of 10 gold medals at the event.