World champion Minhee eliminated from Korean team trials

Selection trials for this year’s Korean squad are currently taking place in Gwangju, on the same field that will host the qualification and eliminations phases of the second stage of the 2022 Hyundai Archery World Cup.

The week-long event will conclude on 26 March but on Wednesday (23 March 2022) the roster of contenders was cut in half – and there were some recognisable casualties.

Just six months removed from winning the Hyundai World Archery Championships, Jang Minhee missed the cut, sitting 18th at the end of the competition day when only 16 recurve women would continue. London 2012 Olympic Champion Ki Bo Bae – who is local to Gwangju and shoots for the city’s professional team – also came up short.

Former world number one Kang Chae Young and reigning Olympic Champion An San lead the recurve women’s ranking with three days of competition left. Rio 2016 Olympic Champion Chang Hye Jin sits 15th, one spot above decorated international Choi Misun. Both have much work to do over the next few days.

Kim Woojin, Kim Je Deok and Oh Jin Hyek, who is still staving off retirement, head the recurve men’s list; the trio won Olympic team gold together in Tokyo last summer. Former world champion Lee Seungyun and former Youth Olympic Champion Lee Woo Seok also remain in contention.

The 28 archers (eight recurves and six compounds per gender) who are selected to the Korean squad will live and train at the Jincheon National Training Centre during the international season.

Further trials within the squad will then decide who represents archery’s leading competitive nation at international events in 2022, including on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit and at the important Asian Games.