(Asiad) Kang Yeon-seo wins women's individual bronze in compound archery

On October 1st in Okazaki, Japan, South Korean archer Kang Yeon-seo claimed the bronze medal in the women's individual compound archery event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. This marked her second medal at the competition. At the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park Multipurpose Square, Kang defeated fellow South Korean archer Park Jung-yoon in the bronze medal match by a single point, with a score of 145-143.

The event saw Kang and Park jointly winning the women's team bronze medal on Wednesday. In the individual compound event, archers shoot 15 arrows, three at a time in five ends, with cumulative points determining the winner. The maximum possible score is 150. Earlier in the day, Kang outperformed China's Wunier with a score of 145-140 in the quarterfinals, while Park edged past Malaysia's Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh with a score of 145-139.

However, in the semifinals, Kang faced a setback against Indonesia's Nurisa Dian Ashrifah, losing 147-143 after the latter scored 12 consecutive 10s. Park also lost to the Philippines' Amaya Amparo Cojuangco in the semifinals, unable to overcome Cojuangco's early lead. Despite starting strong with a perfect 30 in her first end, Kang lost the following end 29-28, narrowing the gap to two points at 88-87.

Nevertheless, she managed to secure a two-point victory by outscoring Park 28-27 in the fourth end, with both archers scoring 29 in their final end. The women's individual compound event had been held in 2014 and 2023, but for the first time, no South Korean archer reached the gold medal match. Compound archery targets are positioned 50 meters away, closer than the 70-meter distance in recurve.

Archers use mechanical release aids and magnified sights, making a perfect score of 10 relatively common in this discipline.