KIM Woojin leads Korean top four in Shanghai qualifiying

The recurve men completed qualification in excellent conditions in the Yuanshen Stadium in Shanghai. It was a familiar tale at the top of the field, as the Korean men took places one through four, with KIM Woojin collecting top honours.

Former world champion KIM is in ferocious form. He finished first at all three Korean selection tournaments this year. 

Maintaining that same position in Shanghai, Woojin finished with 694 points for the ranking round, just ahead of teammates KU Bonchan, OH Jin Hyek, and LEE Seungyun.

Brady ELLISON sat in fifth behind the Koreans, with experienced Indonesian Riau EGA AGATHA securing a strong sixth.

The rest of the top ten featured some familiar names: Crispin DUENAS of Canada was in seventh place with 678 – which, he said, was an international personal best. 

“I had a couple of rough ends, but was pretty good,” said Crispin, pointing out the weather was nearly perfect. “The Koreans are going to be tough to beat, and Brady’s really putting it down out there.”

Confident ahead of the head-to-head matches, Crispin said he expected to finish in the top eight in Shanghai after such a strong ranking round – but would be taking the rest of the event one arrow at a time.

“If I shoot the way I always do I can be up there in the medal matches.” 

Taylor WORTH of Australia qualified in 11th place: “Today went surprisingly well. I’ve had a bit of a rough lead-in heading into the comp, but World Cups seem to bring out the best in me.” 

A 674 finish was a competition best, too, for Taylor.

The Australian team hasn’t travelled recently, and it’s the squad’s first big tournament since Shanghai 2014. 

“There’s no real expectation on us at the moment,” explained Taylor. “We’re just trying to see where the world is at because we’ve missed a season.” 

“The level will have stepped up over the year, so we’ve got to see where we fit back in.”

Read more about Shanghai 2015.