Lim Sihyeon has etched her name in the history books by winning four out of her first five stages of the Hyundai Archery World Cup. This remarkable feat was achieved after defeating teammate Jeon Hunyoung in a tiebreaker in Yecheon. Only one other archer, Choi Misun, has managed to accomplish a similar feat, winning six out of her first seven stages in 2015-2016.
Reflecting on her victory, Lim expressed feeling some pressure to win but tried to overcome it and enjoy the matches with her teammates. She mentioned the overwhelming support from Korean fans in attendance, which allowed her to enjoy the experience even more. The applause and encouragement from the spectators left Lim feeling happy and pleased with her performance.
The recurve finals in Yecheon both featured all-Korean matchups that were decided in shoot-offs. Lee Woo Seok emerged as the winner in the recurve men’s tiebreak by shooting a perfect 30 in the fifth set of his final against Kim Woojin. Lee managed to force an extra arrow and capitalized on a less-than-stellar shot from the three-time World Archery Champion to secure the victory. Lee expressed his enjoyment of competing against Kim and relished the experience.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Yildirmis clinched the recurve men’s bronze by defeating Vietnam’s Le Quoc Phong in a five-set match. This marked Yildirmis’ first individual podium finish of his career, and he humorously acknowledged that he still has some work to do to catch up to Olympic Champion Mete Gazoz. Yildirmis expressed his happiness at experiencing the podium feeling and received enthusiastic support from Mete and Turkish coach Goktug Ergin.
Alejandra Valencia secured the recurve women’s bronze, marking the fifth podium finish of her career