(Asiad) S. Korea settles for pistol team silver following shooter's miscue

On Monday, South Korea secured a silver medal in a pistol shooting team event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games following a costly error by its star athlete. The national team of Yang Ji-in, Oh Ye-jin, and Bong Seo-rin was in contention for the title when the day began at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Toyota, approximately 60 kilometers east of Nagoya.

Yang, who won an individual gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in this distance, aimed for another individual victory. The team's score was determined by adding the individual scores of the three shooters in each event. The individual qualification round was divided into two stages, precision and rapid fire, with 30 shots divided into six series of five shots each, subject to a five-minute time limit for precision and a three-second limit for rapid fire.

During her rapid fire stage, Yang missed her 21st shot within the three-second window, recording it as a miss and earning zero points. With only one more group of 12 shooters remaining, Yang's ranking plummeted to 16th with 575 points. This drop in individual standings led South Korea from first to fourth place in the team event.

Bong Seo-rin, who took the final individual qualification shot, finished with 581 points, moving South Korea to second place in the team standings. Yang ended the day in 17th place in the individual qualification, and Oh Ye-jin ranked 10th with 579 points. With a combined score of 1,735 points, South Korea finished second behind China, who scored 1,743 points.

A single well-fired shot by Yang could have secured the team championship for South Korea. Following the event, Yang expressed her regret, stating, "I am really sorry to my teammates who have worked so hard together to get ready for this competition."