Men’s archery sign reads ‘3 points’… Kim Woo-jin crashes out in round of 16
“The Big Upset has happened. World champion Kim Woo-jin has fallen in front of a 19-year-old Indonesian boy.”
That’s how the World Archery Federation (WA) described Kim Woo-jin (31, Cheongju City, South Korea) on Thursday as it announced the results of the men’s Recurve Individual Round of 16 at the Berlin 2023 World Championships. South Korean men’s archery standout Kim Woo-jin (World No. 5) fell to Indonesia’s Arif Pangestu (World No. 19-182) on the day with a set score of 5-6.
Kim won the first set to take the first two points, but lost the second when his third arrow hit the third point. He tied the third set (3-3), but dropped the fourth to fall behind 3-5. Took the fifth set (5-5) to send the match to a shootout, but was the victim of an upset as Pangestu scored 10 points in the shootout despite shooting 9 points. “Pangestu, who came out of nowhere, toppled three-time world champion (2011-2015-2021) Kim Woo-jin,” CNN wrote. At the 2021 World Championships, Kim swept all the events she competed in, winning the triple crown (individual, team, and mixed).
Lee Woo-seok (26, Kolon), who won back-to-back gold medals at the second and third World Cups this year, lost to Eric Peters (26, Canada) 3-7 in the round of 32 on the same day. The youngest member of the team, two-time Tokyo Olympian Kim Jeduk (19-Yecheoncheon), was the only other quarterfinalist.
It wasn’t just the men. The “world’s strongest” women’s team also had a bitter taste of elimination in the round of 16. The women’s team of Lim Im-hyun (20-Korea Gymnastics University), An An (22-Gwangju Women’s University), and Kang Chae-young (27-Hyundai Mobis) lost 3-5 to Indonesia in the round of 16 on March 3. “Our concentration was good, but we struggled at crucial moments due to the wind,” An said, adding, “We have to accept the result.” This is the first time the Korean women’s team has lost in the round of 16 at a world championship since 1979, their first appearance. It’s also been 24 years since they failed to make the medal round since 1999.
South Korea won gold in all five recurve events at the last World Championships. It was the first time South Korea had ever won all five events (men’s, women’s, team, individual, and mixed), which makes it all the more strange to see the South Korean team stumble. “They proved that even the invincible Korean team can lose,” said a foreign media outlet.
For now, women’s archery has failed to qualify early for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A top-three finish in the team competition at this event would have earned the team three spots (women’s team, individual, and mixed) for Paris. There are still opportunities left, such as the Asian Championships and Olympic qualifiers, but the pride of the world’s strongest team has been crushed.
The globalization of Korean archery is also a factor. It was Indonesia that defeated Kim Woo-jin and the women’s team. Indonesia is led by 카지노사이트 South Korean Park Young-gul, 34. Of the 51 nations that participated in the last Tokyo Olympics, seven were led by Koreans. That’s a pretty good indication of the quality of the Korean team’s players.
For now, South Korea will look to turn things around in the rest of the schedule. Women’s individuals Ahn, Lim, and Kang Chae-young are in the quarterfinals, while the men’s team will face Italy in the fourth round on Friday.
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