'Shock': Three-time Olympic champion Lim Si-hyun is the final 10th → eliminated from the national team selection match! Jang Min-hee, Kang Chae-young, and Ansan are finally selected

*This content was translated by AI.

The saying that it is more difficult than winning an Olympic gold medal has become a reality once again. Lim Si-hyun (23, Hyundai Mobis), a three-time winner of the 2024 Paris Olympics, failed to participate in the 2026 Nagoya and Aichi Asian Games because he failed to wear the national flag.

In the women's recurve category of the 2026 national archery team held at Kim Soo-nyeong Archery Field in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do on the 20th, Shim Eui-hyun ranked 10th with 39 points overall and an average of 27.5679 points, failing to rank 3rd, which is given the right to participate in the Asian Games.

It is a shocking result. From the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which she participated for the first time, Shim Eui-hyun has emerged as a candidate for the next new palace by winning three gold medals. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she also swept the women's individual, team, and mixed team gold medals, gaining momentum. Shim Ji-hyun also ranked first in the women's recurve team in the national team selection match last year, raising expectations for 2026. However, he failed the selection match in a year due to poor condition, realizing how high the wall of the Korean archery team is.

In response, the Korean Archery Association said, "It is evaluated as a result of once again showing the fierce internal competition and the thick base of athletes in Korean archery."

Meanwhile, eight national teams, including men and women from recurve and compound, have been selected through a total of three national team selections since September last year. Jang Min-hee (27, Incheon Metropolitan City Hall), the team gold medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, scored 70 points overall and averaged 28.2617 points. Kang Chae-young (30, Hyundai Mobis), the gold medalist in the team event at the Tokyo Olympics and the current world No. 1, and Ansan (25, Gwangju Bank), the three-time Olympic champion, ranked second and third.

In the men's category, Olympic gold medalists Kim Je-deok (Yecheon County Office) and Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall) will also play in the Asian Games as first and second place. In third place, Kim Sun-woo (26, Kolon), a silver medalist in the team event at the World University Games, won his first national flag.

Unfamiliar names also appeared in the compound category. Choi Yong-hee (Hyundai Steel) in the men's division and So Chae-won (Hyundai Mobis) in the women's division, who have consistently maintained their qualifications as representatives, were ranked 5th and 10th, respectively. Instead, Kim Kang-min (Incheon Yeongseo), Kim Jong-ho (Hyundai Steel), Lee Eun-ho (Korea National Sports University), Park Jung-yoon (Changwon City Hall), Park Ye-rin (Korea National Sports University), and Kang Seo (Bucheon G-Sports) were ranked first, second, and third in the women's division.

The selection match was held over a total of five rounds, and the top 16 players in each event advanced to the second to fifth rounds based on the first round performance. Since then, eight men and women have been named as national team members in 2026, depending on their final performance. The national team, which was confirmed through this selection match, will enter the Jincheon Training Center on March 23 and begin intensive training in preparation for the final warm-up match for the Asian Games.

Hong Seung-jin, the general manager of the national team, said, "The players' concentration and performance have improved before the Asian Games," adding, "We will do our best to continue the status of the world's strongest Korean archery this year."

Meanwhile, the final entry for major international competitions, including the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, will be confirmed through the first warm-up match at Jeonbuk International Archery Field from March 30 to April 3 and the second warm-up match at Jinho International Archery Field in Yecheon from April 13 to 17.

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*This content was translated by AI.