South Korean Shooting Team Aims for Five Gold Medals at Upcoming Asian Games

By Yoo Jee-ho

JINCHEON, South Korea, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- Riding a wave of recent success, the South Korean national shooting team will take aim at bringing home five gold medals from the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, the squad's head coach said Monday.

Chang Kap-seok, in charge of the shooting delegation, unveiled his team's goal during the media day at the Jincheon National Team Training Center in Jincheon, some 85 kilometers south of Seoul.

Chang oversaw South Korea's unexpected surge at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the country captured three gold medals and six medals overall, both of them the second-highest total behind China. At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, South Korea captured 14 medals, ranking third behind China and India.

"We will try to make our country proud," Chang said. "Our objective is to win five gold medals, nine silver medals and five bronze medals. We will demonstrate once again how far Korean shooting has come along."

This year's Asian Games will be hosted by Nagoya, Japan, plus its surrounding cities. The shooting competition starts on Sept. 20, the day after the opening ceremony, and will conclude on Oct. 1.

South Korea will send athletes in 12 events, and this year's delegation features three reigning Olympic champions: Ban Hyo-jin in the women's 10-meter air rifle, Yang Ji-in in the women's 25m pistol and Oh Ye-jin in the women's 25m pistol and 10m air pistol.

"Even though I have won an Olympic gold, this is my first Asian Games and my primary goal is to qualify for the final," the 18-year-old Ban said. "As the youngest member of the women's team, I want to bring some youthful energy to my teammates."

Yang, who took bronze at the 2023 Asian Games in the 25m pistol due to some mechanical malfunction, said she will be better prepared for this year's competition.

"Back then, I was afraid I might be too young to compete at a high level," said Yang, now 23. "This year, I think I can lean on my teammates more and will be able to win the battle against myself."

These youngsters will compete alongside veterans So Seung-seob, 47, and Lee Bo-na, 45.

So, the oldest South Korean shooter for this year's Asian Games, said he is still trying to learn from his younger teammates.

"I am old enough to be the father for some of these athletes, but we are all helping each other and learning from each other," So said with a smile. "I have been doing this for a long time and I am finally feeling confident in myself."