Korean archer Lee Woo-seok (Kolon) has advanced to the semifinals of the men's recurve individual event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Lee, who won a bronze medal in the individual event at the Hangzhou Games, is now aiming for his first gold medal in the Asian Games individual competition after securing gold in the men's team event.
On October 3, at the Okazaki Central Multipurpose Park in Aichi Prefecture, Lee defeated Bhutan's Kinley Chering in the quarterfinals with a set score of 7-1.
Lee took the lead from the first set, scoring 29 points after hitting two consecutive 10s and a 9 with his final arrow. Chering scored 28 points with two 9s and a 10. Lee won the first set 29-28, leading 2-0 in set points.
In the second set, Lee scored a perfect 30 by hitting all three arrows in the 10-point zone, extending his lead. With two consecutive set wins, Lee increased his set score to 4-0.
The third set ended in a tie, with both archers scoring 28 points, allowing Lee to maintain a 5-1 lead in set points, meaning he only needed to tie one more set to secure his place in the semifinals.
The match was decided in the fourth set. Chering started with an 8, while Lee opened with a 9 and followed with two consecutive 10s, finishing with 29 points. Chering managed only 27 points with scores of 8, 10, and 9. Lee won the fourth set, confirming his advancement with a set score of 7-1.
Lee is the last remaining competitor for Korea in the men's recurve individual event. Kim Je-deok (Yecheon County) was eliminated in the round of 16 by India's Neeraj Chauhan with a set score of 4-6, and Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City) did not compete in the individual event due to a limit on the number of participants from each country.
Earlier in the tournament, Lee defeated Bangladesh's Abdur Rahman Alif 6-2 in the round of 32 and overcame Iran's Reza Shabani in the round of 16 after initially losing the first two sets, winning in a shoot-off 6-5.
Lee's semifinal opponent, set for 2 p.m. that day, is India's Diaraj Bommadevara, who set a new Asian Games record with a score of 698 in the ranking round, placing first overall. The previous record was held by Lee at 690 points. Lee scored 687 points in the ranking round, finishing fourth.
The two archers faced each other in the finals of the men's recurve individual event at the World Cup in Antalya last June, where Bommadevara defeated Lee with a set score of 7-3 to win the gold medal.
In the previous day's men's team final, Lee, along with Kim Woo-jin and Kim Je-deok, defeated the Indian team, which included Bommadevara, with a set score of 5-1 to claim the gold medal.
Lee won a bronze medal in the men's individual event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and secured gold in both the men's team and mixed team events. After winning gold in the men's team event at this tournament, Lee is now aiming for his second gold medal and his first in the Asian Games individual event.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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