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At the world championships last year, LEE Seungyun was coming off the back of a World Cup stage win at Wroclaw – and he carried his form through the Belek 2013 eliminations and into a gold final against OH that very few thought he would win.
But win he did, and convincingly. After the pair drew the first set, LEE won three of four to claim the world crown. The Medellin 2014 men’s recurve final was a rematch.
OH Jin Hyek did not seem on form, though. He shot two eights in the first set, another in the second and only put together the kind of three arrow series we would expect from an Olympic Champion in the third.
But 10-10-9 wasn’t good enough. At 4-nil down on set points already, OH stood and watched as LEE planted the last of his arrows into the 10 to seal yet another victory over his fellow Korean.
Top seed, and also shooting for Korea, KIM Woojin won the bronze medal by beating Khairul Anuar MOHAMAD.
Earlier in the day, OH praised his two teammates: “It’s the first time the pair have shot in this team together, and they’ve done a great job.”
With LEE Tuk Young, silver individual medallist OH won gold in the recurve mixed team earlier in the day. It was their first event shooting as a pair, as well – thanks to the country’s revamped line-up after recent selections.
He is the reigning world champion – but with fellow Olympic Champion KI Bo Bae, who is not on the Korea team for 2014.
LEE and OH weren’t pretty – they shot mostly nines, with a couple of eights and 10s in their match against Brazil. But the first-time finalist opponents couldn’t settle their nerves quick enough to put enough of a claim on the medal.
“It’s been a good lesson,” said LEE, afterwards. “The time difference between Korea and Colombia and Korea is huge – and this is our first time here.” It’s worth noting that team Korea arrived a full week in advance of the tournament to acclimatise: “We needed the extra week to adapt to the conditions here in Medellin.”
JUNG Dasomi, another Korean, beat Germany’s Lisa UNRUH in straight sets to win the recurve women’s gold medal. She’s not shot on the World Cup circuit since 2011, when she made the Final in Istanbul.
With JOO Hyun Jung’s bronze – it was five out of six individual recurve medals for the Korean team at Medellin 2014.
From one successful Korea athlete to the next, the nation’s recurve dominance appears set to continue for yet another Archery World Cup season.
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