Korea wins third consecutive compound mixed team crown at world championships

Kim Jongho and So Chaewon won Korea its third consecutive world title in the compound mixed team competition at the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, with a 159-153 win over France.

“I have good experience and memories from winning the world championships over the past two events, so this was definitely a good opportunity for the Korean team to continue to do so,” said Jongho.

The world number 12 has been the man in the winning pairing for the last three championships. His partner has been different each time.

So Chaewon took to the arena as the compound woman for the Korean mixed team in ’s-Hertogenbosch. She and Jongho set a new world record for the 50-metre ranking round with 1421 points during qualification.

In the final, they were perfect for 15 of the 16 arrows, scoring 159 out of a possible 160 points.

The arrow that missed – one of Chaewon’s – was only a millimetre out. If it had caught the line, they had already accrued enough Xs to break their own world record of 160/8X. Sadly, it wasn’t to be.

“We told each other ‘okay let’s try and beat that world record’ but we weren’t able to do it this time,” said So.

“It was kind of a big responsibility for me because the past two teammates Kim Jongho had shot very well with him, so I felt I needed to do the same. In the end, we won and I’m proud of myself.”

France’s Pierre-Julien Deloche and Sophie Dodemont, who seeded seventh with a combined score of 1403, said although they were a bit disappointed, they couldn’t be sad as this silver would be their nation’s only medal from the championships.

“We shot good, but we didn’t get good results. The Koreans are now very strong in archery, but we can also be strong. Today was not our day, but we are looking forward to the next competitions,” said PJ.

“We’ll prepare for the European Games as we are shooting together in the mixed team event again, and then there’s the world cup in Berlin as well and the years to come. This is not the end.”

Eleventh seed Chinese Taipei, represented by Chen Chieh-Lun and Chen Yi-Hsuan, beat fourth-ranked Sara Lopez and Daniel Munoz of Colombia, 156-155, in the compound mixed team bronze medal match.

“This is my first time shooting at the worlds and I’m just happy with the results. Bronze is good,” said Chen.

The 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships take place on 10-16 June in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.