Korean women break team qualifying world record

The Korean women scored a combined 2045 points at the third stage of the 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup to beat the recurve women’s team ranking round world record by seven points, from 2038.

Korea held the previous record – and has held it since before the start of the World Cup era, when the Olympic team at Athens 2004 scored 2030.

Ki Bo Bae and Choi Misun remain from the team that was the previous record holder from 2015 Universiade. Kang Chae Young was part of that team – while in 2016, and the Korean Olympic team for Rio, it’s Chang Hye Jin.

“We had good teamwork in Korea training, so this is a great start for us in the lead up to the Olympic Games. Each of us gains confidence for the competition for this,” said reigning individual Olympic Champion Ki Bo Bae.

Hye Jin added that she thought the team more important than individual results.

“We are the Korean national team so team comes first, individual second,” she explained, laughing and saying: “But if I’ve got a chance to get an individual gold medal, that’s fantastic, too.”

Choi Misun equalled the individual world record – 686 – in Antalya, too. It was the same score, shot by Korean Ku Bonchan, that lead the men’s event at the third Hyundai Archery World Cup stage of the year.

It is the second time in 2016 that Olympic Champion (and Choi’s teammate) Bo Bae’s world-leading mark has been matched. Deepika Kumari also scored 686 at stage one in Shanghai, China.

Misun needed at least 59 points in the last end to go better.

She started with a nine, low left, then put her second arrow right in the middle. Her third arrow went down, left and low, with her first – and the best she could do was match the record. The reigning Hyundai Archery World Cup Champion finished with three sublime 10s to do just that.

Choi Misun had no idea how close she was to the score.

(In fact, none of the women remembered what Ki’s record was. When asked their personal bests during practice at home all answered around 690, but couldn’t remember exactly because “it wasn’t important”.)

“I just tried to focus on my shooting. That naturally leads to good results and good performance,” said Choi. “The world record wasn’t a goal for me but world records come on the path to good results.”

Ki Bo Bae finished four points behind her teammate, on 682, to take the second seed. Russia’s Ksenia Perova came third on 678 and the third Korean archer, Chang Hye Jin, fourth on 677 points.

Guendalina Sartori, Lisa Unruh, Tan Ya-Ting and Inna Stepanova rounded out the top eight.

The top-104 cut to make it into the elimination phases of the recurve women’s competition third stage of the Antalya 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup was 615.