Korea, Chinese Taipei set up third gold medal match on Olympic test event Sunday

Korea and Chinese Taipei set up a third gold medal match between the nations at the 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Paris, as they progressed to the final of the recurve mixed team competition.

Korea is searching for its second recurve mixed team gold of the 2023 World Cup, after Lee Woo Seok teamed up with Kang Chae Young to take victory in Shanghai, but Lee and Lim Sihyeon will need to get past Chinese Taipei’s Peng Chia-Mao and Su Yu-Yang.

The strong performance follows Lim and Kim Woojin taking world mixed team gold earlier this month in Berlin, and the 20-year-old was pleased to be able to shoot in a venue that will hold huge importance next year.

“This is a big opportunity for us and a big honour for me to shoot in the same place as the Olympics next year,” said Lim.

The matches in the finals arena set at the Invalides this weekend are due to act as the official Olympic test event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

By reaching the compound mixed team gold medal match, Jean Pizarro and Paola Ramirez secured a first World Cup team medal for Puerto Rico. They will contest the stage win to USA on Saturday.

The morning’s action saw Mathias Fullerton and Tanja Gellenthien set a new world record in the second round, but the Danes then fell short in a semifinal shoot-off to the Puerto Rican pair.

Korea’s recurve mixed team pair had already beaten the Netherlands and Great Britain en route to the last four.

Lim and Lee powered past China’s Li Jiaman and Wei Shaoxuan with a hat-trick of perfect sets in the semifinal, producing a trio of 40s to win 6-0 in sweltering conditions.

Chinese Taipei's Peng and Su conceded just three set points across their three elimination matches, powering past Türkiye and the home pair of France.

They then bounced back from a 2-0 deficit to despatch Mexico’s second seeds Alejandra Valencia and Matias Grande 6-2 to set up another tussle with Korea, after both recurve men’s and women’s team competitions also saw both nations reach the gold medal match.

“I wouldn’t say it was an easy morning, but we prepared so that we could get into the zone quickly,” said Peng.

“It’s a very special thing for us [to shoot in Paris]. It will not only prepare us for the Olympics, but also, it’s good momentum for the Chinese Taipei team.”

The compound mixed team gold medal match will be contested between USA and Puerto Rico despite Denmark setting a new world record for the compound mixed team 16-arrow match.

Fullerton and Gellenthien produced a perfect 160, including 9 Xs – one more than the previous best mark by Korea at Antalya 2028, against Brazil before edging past Great Britain to secure a place in the last four.

“We had the perfect conditions to shoot in and we took that advantage,” explained Gellenthien. “Our shots were feeling really great, we were working together as a team really well and the weather was awesome.”

But the Danes then fell in a shoot-off to Puerto Rican pair to miss out on a chance to shoot for gold and will face Mike Schloesser and Sanne de Laat in the bronze medal match after the Dutch duo was beaten by Alexis Ruiz and Kris Schaff in their semifinal.

The US pair shot 158 in all three of their matches, beating France in the last 16 before Estonia by a single point in the quarterfinals.

“I’ve only shot mixed team a few times and every time I’ve shot the mixed team I’ve made it to a medal match, so the record’s pretty good,” said Schaff. “Hopefully we’ll do the same thing come Saturday.”

Both nations have already secured its first 2023 Hyundai Archery World Cup compound mixed team medals of the season, and for Puerto Rico it is the chance of a first-ever gold medal following Pizarro’s bronze in Tlaxcala last year.

“It’s a really humbling moment for us,” said Pizarro. “We’re confident because it’s been a long time that we’ve worked for this, and I think it’s getting better and better for us in each tournament.”  

“Now we go to the finals and fix what we have done in the past, and just have fun, get great results and enjoy the moment.”

Action in Paris continues on Friday afternoon with recurve individual eliminations.

Mixed team finals: Paris 2023

The compound mixed team medal matches are scheduled for Saturday 19 August. The recurve mixed team medal matches are scheduled for Sunday 20 August.

Compound

• Gold medal match: USA versus Puerto Rico
• Bronze medal match: Netherlands versus Denmark

Recurve

• Gold medal match: Korea versus Chinese Taipei
• Bronze medal match:  China versus Mexico