Tears and Joy by a Single Point... 14-Year-Old Kang Yeon-seo Wins 'Youngest Medal'

[Anchor]

The national archery team has also begun its hunt for medals. In the women's team compound event, which uses mechanical bows, our national team won the bronze medal after a dramatic match decided by just a single point. Fourteen-year-old Kang Yeon-seo became the youngest medalist in South Korean archery history.

Reporting from the site, here is Jeon Yeongmin.

[Reporter]

The compound women's team, consisting of senior members Park Jung-yoon and YERIN, along with the youngest member Kang Yeon-seo, suffered a narrow defeat by a single point against powerhouse India in a close semifinal match.

In the bronze medal match against Taiwan, however, they smiled by a single point.

If Taiwan's final archer had shot a 10, defeat would have been confirmed for our team, and a 9 would have forced a shoot-off. But when the final arrow landed in the 8-ring, the national team's one-point victory and a dramatic bronze medal were secured.

Kang Yeon-seo, who is 14 years old and a third-year middle school student, was selected as the youngest national team member in history last April. Following that, she has now become the youngest medalist in South Korean archery history across both the Olympics and Asian Games, as well as the youngest medalist for the South Korean delegation at this Asian Games.

[Interview / Kang Yeon-seo / National Compound Archery Athlete : I thought we might at least head to a shoot-off, but since (the opponent) shot an 8, we managed to get this (bronze medal). Next time, I will win outright with even better scores.]

In the mixed team event that followed, Park Jung-yoon teamed up with 41-year-old veteran Yonghee to capture a valuable silver medal after a fierce battle that went all the way to a shoot-off against India in the final.

Chung Euisun, President of the Korea Archery Association, who visited the venue, stated that he will support the performance improvement of the compound national team, which is relatively weaker compared to the world-dominating recurve event.

[Interview / Chung Euisun / President of the Korea Archery Association : (The athletes) need to train much better through more excellent methods, and I felt that the association still has a lot of work to do moving forward.]

Having harvested medals in both team events, the compound national team will challenge for their first gold medal in the individual events tomorrow (October 1).

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video by Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing by Lee Jae-sung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.