'First in history' South Korea women's archery 'no gold'... Oh Ye-jin also defeated by '17-year-old prodigy,' settles for silver medal

*This content was translated by AI.

It is a disappointing result. South Korean women's archery, which boasted itself as the world's strongest, fell into the humiliation of "no gold" for the first time in the 48th-year history of the Asian Games.

Oh Ye-jin (23) lost to Koomkum Anil Mohod (17, India) in a close match that went to a shoot-off, with a set score of 5-6 (29-27 29-29 29-30 28-27 28-30 8-10), in the final of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games archery recurve women's individual event held on the 3rd at the Multi-Purpose Plaza of Okazaki Central Comprehensive Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and hung a silver medal around her neck.

As a result, South Korean women's archery closed out this tournament without securing a single gold medal. Since archery was first adopted as an official event at the 1978 Bangkok Games, it is the first time in 48 years that South Korean women's archery has ended with "no gold" across both recurve and compound categories. Even limiting to just the recurve category, it is an unprecedented result of missing the top spot in both the women's team and individual events.

South Korean women's archery failed to achieve their 8th consecutive Asian Games team title, a streak dating back to the 1998 Bangkok Games, after losing 3-5 to India, who had Mohod on the roster, in the recurve team final held the previous day. The representative team, which also settled for a bronze medal in the mixed team event, was aiming to restore their honor in the women's individual event, where their last dignity was at stake.

They could not overcome India's wall even in the individual event. Ace Kang Chae-young (Hyundai Mobis), who set a tournament record (685 points) in the preliminary ranking round, was caught off guard by Mohod in the quarterfinals and eliminated early, while the youngest member of the representative team, Oh Ye-jin, won consecutively in the quarterfinals and semifinals to reach the final, but ultimately could not break Mohod's momentum.

The flow of the final was tense. Oh Ye-jin took the first set 29-27 to seize the initiative, drew the second set 29-29, and lost the third set 29-30, but won the fourth set 28-27 to lead 5-3 in sets, putting the gold medal within reach.

The match was overturned at the last moment. In the fifth set, Mohod hit all three arrows at 10 points to win 30-28, resetting the score to 5-5. In the shoot-off, which determines the gold medal winner with a single arrow, Oh Ye-jin's first arrow, unable to overcome the pressure, stopped at 8 points, while Mohod hit a 10-point X (X10), putting the final period on the match.

Along with Oh Ye-jin's defeat, who had to settle for two silver medals after reaching the finals in both the team and individual events, the humiliation of South Korean women's archery going without a title was finally confirmed.

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*This content was translated by AI.