Despite a delayed-shot mistake by younger teammate Yang Ji-in (Woori Bank), eldest team member Bong Seorim (Gwangju City Corporation) shot 292 points in the rapid-fire stage to lead South Korea to a team silver medal at the Asian Games.

Bong Seorim, Yang Ji-in, and Oh Ye-jin (IBK Altos) finished second with a combined score of 1,735 points (65 inner-10s) in the women's 25m pistol individual qualification and team event held today at the Aichi Prefectural Shooting Range in Japan.

China took the gold medal with 1,743 points, while Taiwan won the bronze medal with 1,734 points.

Following a bronze medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Games, a gold medal at the 2014 Incheon Games, and a bronze medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, South Korea has now medaled in the team event for four consecutive Asian Games.

South Korea combined for 870 points in yesterday's precision stage, taking the lead by 2 points ahead of China (868 points).

However, an unexpected situation arose today.

Yang Ji-in experienced a delayed trigger pull on her 21st rapid-fire shot, resulting in a zero for that shot and creating a variable in the fierce competition for the gold medal.

That was when eldest team member Bong Seorim stepped up.

After scoring 98 points in her first 10 rapid-fire shots, Bong experienced a slight hiccup with 47 points in the next five shots.

She immediately bounced back by hitting a perfect 50 points on her next five shots, and added 97 points in her final 10 shots to finish the rapid-fire stage with a total of 292 points.

Combined with her 289 points in yesterday's precision stage, Bong recorded a total of 581 points (14 inner-10s) in the individual qualification round, finishing 7th overall and securing a spot in the individual final.

Oh Ye-jin finished 10th with 579 points (24 inner-10s), and Yang Ji-in placed 17th with 575 points (27 inner-10s), narrowly missing out on the final.

Yang, who had a four-leaf clover attached to her bag, explained the delayed-shot situation to reporters after completing the qualification round.

"I am sorry to my teammates who prepared together with me," she said before leaving the mixed zone.

(Photo: Yonhap News)