Kim Ji-eun Wins Asian Games Rifle Bronze in Dramatic Final

South Korean shooter Kim Ji-eun won the bronze medal in the women’s 50-meter rifle three positions at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, securing the country’s ninth shooting medal of the competition.

Kim finished the final with 348.4 points at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Toyota, east of Nagoya. China’s Han Jiayu captured gold with an Asian continental record of 359 points, while her compatriot Zhang Liyuan took silver after finishing 0.2 point behind Han.

The result marked South Korea’s first medal in the women’s 50-meter rifle three positions at the Asian Games since Jeong Mi-ra earned silver in 2014. It also brought the national shooting team’s tally through seven days of competition to one gold, four silver and four bronze medals.

Kim began the eight-shooter final strongly. Competitors first fired 10 shots from the kneeling position and another 10 from prone within the opening stage. Kim scored 103.3 in kneeling, the second-best total in that series, and added 103 points in prone. Her combined score of 206.3 left her second overall, just 0.2 point behind Zhang, when the competition moved to standing.

The standing phase reshuffled the rankings. Kim slipped to fifth after her first five standing shots, recording 256.3 points overall, but remained only half a point away from third place. She moved up to fourth after the next five shots with 307.6 points, trailing India’s Tilottama Sen by 0.2.

Kim then fired a 10.5 to surge into second place on 318.1 points. A 9.5 on her following shot dropped her back to fourth and put her at immediate risk of elimination. Needing to beat Sen on the next shot to stay in the contest, Kim responded with another 10.5 and climbed into third, guaranteeing a medal as the Indian shooter was eliminated.

Kim entered the next shot 0.7 point behind Zhang in the race for silver. She scored 10.3, while Zhang posted 9.9. The difference narrowed but was not enough to change their positions, leaving the 23-year-old South Korean with bronze.

The medal completed a rapid turnaround from qualification, where Kim had secured the seventh of eight final places. She was the only South Korean to advance to the individual final, then converted that opportunity into the country’s first medal in the event in 12 years. The Asian Games shooting program is scheduled to continue through Thursday.