'Middle school girl archer included' Korean Yang Gung (CEO) team to launch second World Cup campaign from the 5th... Aiming for gold at the 2026 Asian Games

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean national archery team is targeting a gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, scheduled for September this year, through the World Cup.

The Korea Archery Association announced on the 4th that "the 2026 South Korean national archery team will participate in the '2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup 2nd Stage,' held in Shanghai, China, from the 5th to the 10th."

The archery World Cup series, organized by the World Archery Federation, is an international competition featuring the world's top-tier athletes. The Na Seol (CEO) team for this event is composed of a total of 28 people, including head coach Hong Seung-jin and 16 athletes (four men and four women each in the recurve and compound categories).

The recurve national team will feature men's Kim Je-deok (Yecheon County Office), Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Office), Lee Woo-seok (Kolon), and Seo Min-ki (National Army), and women's Kang Chae-young (Hyundai Mobis), Oh Ye-jin (Gwangju Bank), Lee Yun-ji (Hyundai Mobis), and Jang Min-hee (Incheon Metropolitan Office). The compound national team roster includes men's Kim Jong-ho (Hyundai Steel), Choi Eun-gyu (Ulsan Nam-gu Office), Choi Yong-hee (Hyundai Steel), Lee Eun-ho (Korea National Sport University), and women's Park Ye-rin (Korea National Sport University), Park Jeong-yoon (Changwon City Office), Kang Yeon-seo (Bucheon G-Sports), and Oh Yu-hyun (Jeonbuk Provincial Office).

The most notable name is 15-year-old middle school archer Kang Yeon-seo (Bucheon G-Sports), the youngest national team member in archery and eligible to compete in the Asian Games. Kang Yeon-seo secured a spot for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games by finishing third in the '2026 National Archery Team Final 2nd Evaluation' held on the 17th of last month at Jinho International Archery Field in Yecheon, Gyeongbuk.

The Lee Beon (CEO) team has undergone the most significant changes in the past five years. In particular, the women's recurve national team, which had boasted unparalleled results on the international stage, was shocked when both of its three-time Olympic champions were eliminated. 2024 Paris Olympics three-time champion Lim Si-hyun (23, Hyundai Mobis) failed to even make the national team, finishing 10th in the selection trials, while 2020 Tokyo Olympics three-time champion An San (25, Gwangju Bank Tenten) also failed to secure a spot for the Asian Games, finishing fifth in the final evaluation.

The spots were taken by Oh Ye-jin (23, Gwangju Bank) and Lee Yun-ji (25, Hyundai Mobis), who finished second and third, respectively. Both Oh Ye-jin and Lee Yun-ji are making their first appearance at the Asian Games. Instead, world number one and 2020 Tokyo Olympics recurve team gold medalist Kang Chae-young (30, Hyundai Mobis) secured first place again this time, becoming a solid pillar for the team.

The national team began adaptation training after arriving on the 2nd of May. The official schedule will kick off with formal practice and the compound ranking round on the 5th of May. This will be followed by the compound team event and recurve ranking round on the 6th, the recurve team event and compound individual event on the 7th, and the mixed team event and recurve individual event on the 8th. The schedule will conclude with the compound finals on the 9th and the recurve finals on the 10th.

The main round matches of this event will be held at the Shanghai Yuanxian Sports Center Stadium. The finals are scheduled to take place at a special venue at the Shanghai Pudong Riverside Financial Plaza.

The Korea Archery Association stated, "This event is significant as it is the first international competition for the final Koo Seong-doen (CEO) team selected through the second national team evaluation in April. We expect it to be an important stage to check the team's international competitiveness and match experience for the first time ahead of this year's top priority, the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games."

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*This content was translated by AI.