South Korean shooter Ban Hyo-jin claimed the bronze medal in the individual event at the Asian Games, which took place on her 19th birthday.
Ban scored 230.4 points in the final of the women's 10m air rifle individual event at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Range in Japan today (September 20) at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, finishing third among eight finalists to win the bronze medal.
▲ South Korea's Ban Hyo-jin poses for a commemorative photo after winning the bronze medal in the final of the women's 10m air rifle individual shooting event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Range in Japan on the 20th.
Japan's Hinata Daichi won the gold medal with 253.0 points, while India's Elavenil Valarivan took the silver with 252.4 points.
An upset occurred as China's Wang Zifei, the world number one and a favorite to win, was eliminated in 5th place, while Daichi, ranked 49th in the world, captured the gold medal.
Ban was in 3rd place with 104.9 points after her first 10 shots, and climbed to 2nd place with 168.2 points up to her 16th shot.
Later slipping back to 3rd place, Ban secured at least a 3rd-finish by edging out Japan's Misaki Nobata with a total of 210.0 points after 20 shots.
Ban added 20.4 points in her final two shots to finish the match with a total of 230.4 points, though she could not raise her ranking further.
Ban harvested an individual medal at the Asian Games, which she participated in for the first time in her life.
As the champion of the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2025 International Shooting Sport Federation World Championships, Ban postponed her bid to achieve a shooting "Grand Slam" by sweeping all three major events to another opportunity.
Kwon Yu-na, who advanced to the final alongside Ban, tied with China's Han Jiayu with a total of 124.0 points after 12 shots, but was pushed down in a shoot-off to finish the final in 8th place.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.