Kang Chae Young wins back-to-back stages of the Hyundai Archery World Cup

Kang Chae Young beat Tomomi Sugimoto of Japan in the recurve women’s final at the second stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Shanghai, securing her second consecutive individual gold medal on the international circuit after winning in Medellin, too.

It means the second automatic qualification spot for the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final is released. It will be awarded on ranking position at the end of the season instead.

“I never expected that I would do so well like this so at the moment I’m very satisfied. I’m hoping to continue this until the end of the world championships,” said Chae Young.

The 22-year-old had never finished on the individual podium more than once in a single season, let alone winning two golds. She rectified that with convincing victories in both Medellin and Shanghai.

Her opponent in China looked unprepared to face the world number three. Kang shot three sets of 28 points as Sugimoto let two eights hit the board in the first series and never made an impression on the scoreboard. It finished 6-0 in Chae Young’s favour.

“I wasn’t thinking about my opponent. I just thought about myself. Sometimes the wind was a bit tricky so I was just focused on trying to figure that out,” she said, hinting that there was more to come this season.

“I think I need to improve more before the world championships. I’m going to prepare even harder.”

Despite losing this final, Tomomi Sugimoto has recorded her second consecutive and second ever international podium, having already finished third at the opening stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Medellin.

The bronze medal match in Shanghai saw Tan Ya-Ting of Chinese Taipei take victory over Malaysia’s Nur Afisa Abdul Halil in four sets, 6-2.

The second stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup takes place on 6-12 May in Shanghai, China.