South Korea Retains Asian Games Men’s Recurve Team Title
Lee Woo-seok, Kim Je-deok and Kim Woo-jin defeated India 5-1 in the men’s recurve team final, delivering South Korea’s second consecutive Asian Games title in the event.
South Korea won its second consecutive Asian Games gold medal in the men’s recurve team event on Friday, defeating India 5-1 in the final in Okazaki, Japan.
Lee Woo-seok, Kim Je-deok and Kim Woo-jin secured the title at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square, about 50 kilometers southeast of Nagoya, the principal host city of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Their victory preserved South Korea’s position at the top of the event after the country also won the team title at the previous Games.
The final began evenly, with both teams scoring 56 in the opening set. Under the recurve team format, each archer shoots two arrows per set, giving each three-member team six arrows and a maximum possible score of 60. A team receives two match points for winning a set and one point for a tie, with five points needed to win the match. The opening tie therefore left the final level at 1-1.
South Korea gained control in the second set. Lee, Kim Je-deok and Kim Woo-jin opened with three consecutive 10s, while India’s Neeraj Chauhan, Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge and Dhiraj Bommadevara started with scores of 9, 8 and 8. South Korea took the set 57-50 and moved ahead 3-1.
The Korean trio then closed out the contest in the third set. After both teams recorded 10, 9 and 9 with their first three arrows, India added 7, 9 and 10. South Korea answered with another 10, 9 and 9, winning the set 56-54 and completing the 5-1 victory.
South Korea had advanced to the final with a 6-0 semifinal win over Chinese Taipei. The men’s title was the country’s third archery medal of the day, following silver in the women’s team event and bronze in the mixed team event.
The result added to the three champions’ Asian Games records. Lee and Kim Je-deok were members of the gold medal-winning team in 2023 alongside Oh Jin-hyek. Kim Woo-jin previously won team gold with Oh and Im Dong-hyun in 2010 and earned silver with Lee and Oh in 2018.
Although South Korea’s attempt to sweep all five recurve titles ended when the women lost 5-3 to India and the mixed team fell to China in the semifinals, the men delivered the country’s central success of the day with a controlled performance under pressure.