Ban Hyo-jin, Park Ha-jun Win Bronze in 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team at World Championships

Ban Hyo-jin (Daegu Public Facilities Management Corporation) and Park Ha-jun (KT) have teamed up to win the bronze medal in the mixed 10m air rifle event at the 2026 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championships currently taking place in Doha, Qatar.

Ban, who secured a quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics by winning the gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle individual event, added another medal in the mixed competition.

The Ban-Park duo scored 317.2 points each in the preliminary round held on November 4 (local time), advancing to the finals for the top four teams in first place with a combined total of 634.4 points.

The pair of Kwon Eun-ji (Uljin County Office) and Kang Jun-gi (Seosan City Hall) finished in eighth place with a total of 631.9 points, missing out on the finals.

Korea's Team 1 scored 104.2 points in the first series of the finals, and then hit a field-high 105.5 points in the second series to surpass China's Team 2 and move up to second place.

However, they were overtaken again in the final series, finishing the competition in third place with a total of 440.1 points, trailing China's Team 2 (440.9 points) by 0.8 points.

China's Team 1 claimed the championship with a score of 506.1 points.

In the finals, Ban scored 220.7 points and Park scored 219.4 points.

Following the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games where they teamed up for a silver medal, the two once again stood on the podium together.

After the match, Park shared his thoughts, saying, "Hyo-jin is such an exceptional shooter, so I worked even harder than in the individual event, thinking that I just needed to do my part." Ban responded, "My older brother shot so well, which allowed me to shoot with a relaxed mind."

As no separate quotas are allocated for the Olympic mixed event, Korea must secure a men's air rifle quota for the two to partner up again on the LA stage.


Korea finished a close fourth in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol team event, trailing by just a single point.

Lee Gun-hyuk, who advanced to the finals in eighth place after scoring a total of 582 points (with 25 inner tens) in the individual preliminaries, wrapped up the competition in eighth place overall, postponing his bid to secure an Olympic quota to the next tournament.

Hong Seok-jin and Lee Jae-gyun (both from KB Kookmin Bank), who competed alongside him, finished in 24th (577 points) and 30th (574 points) place, respectively.

Paris Olympic gold medalists Yang Ji-in (Woori Bank) and Oh Ye-jin (IBK Bank), along with Asian Games gold medalist Chu Ga-eun (Imsil County Office), will compete in the women's 10m air pistol event held on November 5.

In the men's division, Choi Bo-ram, So Seung-seop (both from Seosan City Hall), and Park Jeong-yi (Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps) will hunt for medals.
 
(Photo provided by the International Shooting Sport Federation, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.