Easier to concentrate in matches, says Shanghai triple-gold medallist

Korea looked set to grab almost all the silverware available from recurve Sunday in Shanghai – but other Asian nations rose to the great white challenge.

Earlier in the day, an improved Japan had already denied the men’s team a gold medal and it fell to Riau Ega Agatha of Indonesia to try and deny the Koreans an individual bronze. 

The individual match was Riau’s second outing into the arena that day, too – he had already picked up a team bronze medal against Spain in the men’s team matches that morning. 

In a testy first set, Lee Seungyun shot an uncharacteristic seven and the Indonesian took the points. They split the points in the next. Lee looked rattled, but shot 9-9-X in the third to tie the match. 

Riau led out with a ten in the in the fourth to take the match to 5-3. With the wind picking up, Lee sent down two eights, shaking his head.

Riau shot 9-X-9 to deny the world champion a medal in Shanghai, collect himself bronze and cap an excellent week for Indonesian archery. 

Lee’s form hasn’t quite been up to his previous standards this year: He last won an Archery World Cup medal at Medellin 2014 and must have been disappointed not to go home with a gong – unlike six of his teammates. 

The recurve men’s gold medal match was an all-Korean affair, with Ku Bonchan taking on the in-form Kim Woojin. Ku, perhaps the most ferocious competitor of all the men in white, had an imperious start with three straight tens. 

In the second end he got caught by the wind and shot a most un-Korean six, while Kim came back with three tens of his own, levelling the match. They split the points in the fourth, but KU drilled two tens in in the last to take the prize. 

It was his first gold medal on the circuit. 

“The six was annoying: I hadn’t quite set my sight pin for the wind on the practice field, but I adjusted quickly.” As for Bonchan’s next mission: “I’m looking forward to Antalya – it was my favourite World Cup venue last year. And, of course, I’d like to be world champion. Who wouldn’t?” 

In the recurve women’s bronze medal match Ki Bo Bae buried Karina Winter of Germany 6-0. Winter never really got going and managed to find the 10-ring just once. The Olympic Champion shot solidly and had no trouble taking all three sets. 

The two in-form Koreans, Kang Chae Young and Choi Misun contested the recurve women’s gold medal match. 

After a low-scoring first set, both women shot consistently – with top seed Kang consistently edging ahead. The match finished 6-2 in her favour. 

It was Chae Young’s third gold medal of the day. She also collected the Longines Prize for Precision – Stage Award. 

“I can’t really believe it,” the grinning Korean admitted. “I was a little nervous in the team match, but much more relaxed against Choi, of course. It was easier.” 

Despite her innocent smiles, Chae Young is both fearsomely good and unfazed by the big stage. She said she didn’t have a problem concentrating during the matches, with the loud crowd behind. 

“Actually, it’s easier than training.” 

Despite some excellent, testing performances from other nations, recurve Sunday at Shanghai 2015 was another emphatic display of Korean dominance, highlighted by Olympic Champion Ki Bo Bae’s return to the big stage accompanied by cheers from an enthusiastic Chinese audience.

Bo Bae, for one, was happy to be back but was more gracious about her teammates: “I’m just thankful to have the support of and talent of such great younger archers out here.” 

“We’re looking forward to all the competitions but for me, it’s all about Copenhagen,” she added. 

“It will be my third world championships, and I’ve never won it. So I think you can guess what I would like to do there.”