Lee Woo Seok, An San withdraw from 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final
Korean archers Lee Woo Seok and An San have withdrawn from the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final and will be replaced in the line-up by Bae Jaehyeon and Melanie Gaubil.
The event will be held in the Russian capital of Moscow on 6-7 September.
In previous years, the eight members of the Korean national squad – the three or four archers in the primary team plus the four or five in the reserve – have automatically been given the chance to contest places on the team in the next year. In January or February, the eight incumbent members have been joined by eight contenders to progress through the gruelling stages of Korean selection until a new team is decided.
This will not be the case for the Korean team in 2020, which is set to represent archery’s leading country at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
All 16 places in the latter stages of the upcoming selection will have to be qualified and no current member of the national team receives an automatic pass. That qualification process starts in August, before the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final, and continues in September.
World number four Lee Woo Seok and Olympic test event winner An San have said they are prioritising the national selection events, with their sights set on Tokyo 2020.
Neither athlete has competed at a Games before.
Lee Woo Seok’s place in Moscow was first offered to 2013 World Archery Champion Lee Seungyun, who declined for the same reason, but a third Korean recurve man accepted. Bae Jaehyeon made his international debut in 2019 and finished second in Berlin. He is now set to make his first appearance at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Final this season, too.
The withdrawal of An San means France’s Melanie Gaubil has been added to the recurve women’s roster. The 21-year-old reached a career-high of 10th in the world rankings during the season. She is the only French recurve archer to qualify for the season-ending event in 2019.
No further changes to the line-up of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final are expected after Russia announced its host nation representatives last week.
The 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final takes place on 6-7 September in Moscow, Russia.
