| South Korean female archers, from left, Jung Dasomi, Lee Tuk-young and Chang Hye-jin, pose after winning gold medals in the women's team recurve archery final after defeating their Chinese opponents 3-0 at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field in Incheon, Sunday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Kim Tae-jong
South Korean female archers won the team recurve archery final, Sunday, garnering their country an historic fifth straight Asiad gold in the event.
The team, consisting of Jung Dasomi, Chang Hye-jin and Lee Tuk-young, secured a comfortable 6-0 win over their Chinese opponents ― Cheng Ming, Xu Jing and Zhu Jueman.
"We've prepared for this moment for the last 10 months, and I'm really happy that we have made new history by winning the fifth straight gold at the Asiad," Lee said after the match at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field in Incheon.
It was also the country's third gold in the sport at the Incheon Asian Games following two gold medals in women's individual and team compound archery the previous day.
Lee said she thanked her teammate Joo Hyun-jung most, who let her replace Joo and join the team.
"I thought that if Lee played with us, it would help us perform well," Lee said.
Joo voluntarily withdrew from the team event from the semifinals due to a minor shoulder injury. Although Joo could insist to compete, she gave up to help her team win the gold.
"I'm happy as if I won the gold," Joo said. "After preliminary matches, I had a dream where my team won the gold. So, I just told them play comfortable before the final."
It was indeed a comfortable match for the Koreans, as the Chinese made mistakes from the first set.
The Chinese team shot two 7s without a 10 in the first set and only managed to record two 10s throughout the event, while the Koreans earned eight 10s out of 18 shots.
A set consists in shooting two arrows of each archer of which the total value decides who wins the set. The winner team gets 2 points with 1 point given to two teams in a draw set.
The new "set" system is different from the previous rule in which the total value was added to the overall score to determine the winner.
The Koreans won 6 points by winning the first three sets ― 54-50, 56-55 and 58-52.
In the women's recurve team event, Japan settled for the bronze after a cliffhanger match against India.
Meanwhile, South Korea's men recurve team clinched the bronze by defeating Japan 5-3.
Korea's Lee Seung-yun, Ku Bon-chan and Oh Jin-hyek ― took an early lead by winning the first set against Japan's Takaharu Furukawa, Hideki Kikuchi and Shohei Ota and secured it after they drew in the second set.
The Japanese won the third set by 58-56 and were tied with the Koreans 3-3. But they failed to upset the Koreans as they shot two 8s in the final set.
In the men's recurve team event, China, which ended the South Korea's bid to win the nine straight Asiad gold in their semifinals, won the gold after defeating Malaysia 6-0.
Korean Language
<양궁> 한국, 중국 꺾고 여자 단체전 5연패
한국 여자 양궁 대표팀이 인천 아시안게임에서 단체전 5연패의 위업을 이뤘다.
한국은 28일 인천계양아시아드양궁장에서 열린 대회 여자 단체전 결승에서 중국을 세트점수 6-0(54-50 56-55 58-52)으로 완파했다.
이로써 한국은 1998년 방콕, 2002년 부산, 2006년 도하, 2010년 광저우 대회 우승을 포함해 여자 단체전 5연패를 달성했다.
장혜진(LH), 이특영(광주광역시청), 정다소미(현대백화점)가 차례로 한국 사선에 나섰다. 중국에서는 청밍, 세계랭킹 1위 수징, 주주에만이 차례로 시위를 당겼다.
난적으로 여겨지던 중국답지 않게 초반부터 긴장을 털지 못하고 흔들렸다. 한국은 1세트에 중국이 7점 두 발을 쏘는 실수에 편승해 54-50으로 승점 2를 먼저 따냈다. 여세를 몰아 2세트에도 장혜진, 이특영, 정다소미가 한 발씩 10점 과녁을 뚫어 중국을 56-55로 따돌리고 4-0으로 앞서갔다. 한국은 비기기만 해도 승리하는 이점을 안고 세 번째 세트에 들어갔다.
궁지에 몰린 중국은 최고 베테랑 청밍과 수징이 각각 8점을 쏘는 것으로 불안하게 3세트를 시작했다. 한국은 승기를 잡았다는 듯 장혜진이 10점, 이특영이 9점을 쏘며 금메달에 다가섰다.
결국 중국은 10점을 한번도 못쐈고 한국은 28-52에서 마지막 세 발을 10점, 10점, 10점에 꽂아넣으며 승리를 확정했다.
앞서 열린 동메달결정전에서는 일본이 슛오프 끝에 인도를 세트점수 5-4로 이겼다.
일본에 귀화한 엄혜련(하야카와 렌)은 2012년 런던올림픽 단체전에 이어 아시안게임 단체전에서도 동메달을 목에 걸었다. (연합뉴스)