Choirunisa, Zhang make Jakarta recurve women’s final at 1st Asian Games not to feature Korea

Indonesia’s Diananda Choirunisa knocked out Olympic Champion Chang Hye Jin and then beat Chinese Taipei’s Lei Chien-Ying to make the finals of the 2018 Asian Games on home soil in Jakarta.

She’ll be joined in the gold medal match by China’s Zhang Xinyan to make this recurve women’s final the first since archery’s introduction to the Asian Games to not feature a Korean athlete.

“This is my country, I just want to give the best for my country,” said Choirunisa. “I didn’t expect this. I just thought, ‘good shooting, good shooting, good shooting’.”

After seeding seventh, the 21-year-old Indonesian archer – who is ranked just 53rd in the world – faced a stiff test in Rio 2016 winner Chang in the quarterfinals.

A 29-point last set was enough to put her into the final four where she again came through at the last, against Lei, to finish with a strong 28 and secure a gold medal match berth.

In the other semifinal, the second Korean woman in the competition, Kang Chae Young, was upset by Zhang in five sets.

The match was tight until Kang shot a penultimate eight, and then a seven with her last arrow. Zhang, the world number 113, finished with two 10s and made the final.

Korean athletes have contested every single recurve women’s final at the Asian Games since archery was added to the programme in 1978, winning gold eight of 10 times.

Defending Champion Jung Dasomi of Korea did shoot in Jakarta, but was not chosen as one of the two athletes to progress to the individual eliminations.

The Asian Games has a rule limiting the number of archers per nation in the elimination bracket to two.

The archery competitions at the 2018 Asian Games take place on 21-26 August in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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