Kim Ji-eun (IBK Industrial Bank) dramatically advanced to the individual final of the women's 50m rifle three positions at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games by hitting the bullseye on all of her final five shots.

Competing in the individual preliminaries and team event held at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Range in Japan today (the 26th), Kim scored 588 points (with 28 inner tens), placing 7th out of 45 competitors overall.

Kim recorded 196 points in kneeling and 198 points in prone, adding 194 points in standing.

Her concentration shone at the final moment when her advancement to the final was on the line.

With five shots remaining in the final series, Kim faced a situation where she had to hit a 10 on every single shot to have a chance at making the final.

However, she slotted all five shots into the 10-ring to secure her spot in the final.

If Kim had shot even a single 9, her total would have dropped to 587 points, forcing a tie-breaker based on the number of inner tens against four other competitors who recorded the same score.

Kim (with 28 inner tens) had fewer inner tens than two of those four competitors and the same as one, which could have pushed her down to 10th place overall and resulted in elimination from the final.

Kim will compete for a medal in the final this afternoon, which features the top eight shooters.

Kim Bo-kyung (Changwon City Hall), who competed alongside her, finished 25th with 581 points (30 inner tens).

World No. 13 Oh Se-hee (Chungbuk Health and Science University) fell short, placing 29th with 580 points (25 inner tens).

In the team event, which combined the preliminary scores of the three athletes, South Korea finished 6th out of 11 teams with 1,749 points, failing to reach the podium.

China won the gold medal with 1,773 points, while India (1,763 points) and Kazakhstan (1,754 points) won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

(Photo courtesy of the Korea Shooting Federation, Yonhap News)