We shot well but India shot better.” Kim Jong-ho (29, Hyundai Steel), the ‘ace’ of the South Korean men’s compound archery team, was tongue-in-cheek. The South Korean team of Kim Jong-ho, Joo Jae-hoon (31-Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power) and Yang Jae-won (26-Sangmu) won the silver medal in the men’s team compound archery final at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games on Friday after falling to India 230-235 at the Fuyang Throat Sports Center Archery Range in Hangzhou, China .South Korea put in a good performance, landing all their arrows inside the nine-point range .But India was “perfect. In the decisive third and fourth ends, only one arrow landed in the 9s, while the rest of the 11 arrows landed in the 10s.After the awards ceremony, the Korean athletes entered the joint press area (mix zone) with a somewhat frustrated look on their faces. “India had a generation change (while the event was postponed for a year), and then they suddenly showed a lot of improvement at the World Championships and the World Cup,” said Kim Jong-ho. “I saw them faltering all the way to the final, so I thought it was worth a shot, but in the end, India shot better. “India is poised to complete a ‘sweep’ of compound gold medals at the Games. They swept all three gold medals in the mixed event the previous day and the men’s and women’s team events today. The men’s individual final on Sunday will be a “family affair” for India. In the women’s individual final, South Korea’s So Chae-won (Hyundai Mobis) will face India .So Chae-won is the last line of defense against India’s dominance. “I want to go to the women’s individual final and cheer hard and loudly to show that we can do it,” said Kim Jong-ho, “and with that one gold medal, I want to show that the compound team can do it, just like the world’s strongest recurve team. He also regretted that he wasn’t in full physical condition. Kim Jong-ho has been suffering from unexplained back pain that has left him unable to stand without painkillers for the past week. Yang Jae-won has also been battling the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).Yang, who is in the military, will be discharged next July. If he had won gold that day, he would have been able to retire early. “Next time, I’ll work harder and bring back the memory of winning this silver medal so I can win gold,” Yang said.Joo Jae-hoon, who gained a lot of attention as a “fellow national athlete,” was also disappointed with the silver medal .”It would have been great if I could have won a gold medal after receiving so much attention,” he said, adding, “I will work harder to prepare for the remaining individual events.” Joo and Yang will face off in the men’s 스포츠토토 individual bronze medal match on Sunday.
