▲ South Korea's Kang Chae-young and Kim Je-deok talk after winning the bronze medal match in the recurve mixed team event against Japan at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Ground in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on October 2.
Kang Chae-young (Hyundai Mobis), who collected a silver and a bronze medal in the recurve women's team and mixed team events at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, said, "I feel quite disappointed because I think my mind became much weaker against the wind than I expected."
Earlier on October 2, Kang competed in the recurve team final alongside Lee Yun-ji (also of Hyundai Mobis) and Oh Ye-jin (Gwangju Bank) at the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Ground in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, losing to India with a set score of 3-5 (54-54, 56-56, 51-55, 54-54).
Despite three draws, South Korea failed to capture a single set and lost, dashing hopes for the country's eighth consecutive victory in this event.
In the mixed team event paired with Kim Je-deok (Yecheon County Office), Kang warded off Japan to secure the bronze medal.
Speaking to South Korean reporters in the mixed zone after the match, Kang said, "(In the mixed team event) I tried to focus only on the arrows that hit the 10-ring rather than the ones that missed, but it is disappointing because I feel my mind weakened in the wind more than I thought. Still, I am glad that I teamed up well with Kim Je-deok and managed to win at least a bronze medal."
Strong winds blew from the start of the match, causing difficulties for the South Korean athletes.
Lee Yun-ji remarked, "Overall, it was a disappointing match. Being able to stand on such a big stage itself was a huge, wonderful, and precious experience for me. Building on this experience, I will not rest on my laurels and will push forward harder."
Oh Ye-jin also said, "The wind was tricky, and I should have approached it thinking it was the same situation for everyone, but it's a bit regrettable that I couldn't shake it off quickly. It's disappointing, but I am grateful for the result."
Kim Je-deok, who was eliminated in the recurve individual preliminaries leaving only team events, welcomed the bronze medal by saying, "I wanted a shinier medal, but it's still better than nothing." He then credited his partner, adding, "My performance fell far short of what I prepared, but Kang Chae-young said a lot of comforting words to me, which I was very grateful for."
Explaining that strong winds were the cause of his mistake of shooting two 7s early in the semifinals, Kim said, "An athlete must do their best and play a good game in any environment, so I won't make excuses and will simply accept the result."
Regarding India's fierce momentum in both compound and recurve events, Kim noted, "The Asian Games are the Asian Games, and we cannot guarantee that Indian athletes will show such perfect performances at the Olympics either." He added, "Since our national athletes will prepare and work hard again, we will do well in the remaining matches" and recover South Korea's pride.
Out of 10 gold medals up for grabs in archery at this tournament, India has captured four as of today, combining the men's and women's compound team events, the mixed compound event, and the women's recurve team event.
South Korean archery, which prides itself on being the world's best, has harvested one gold medal so far.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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