Hits 14 of 15 arrows for 10 points in final; South Korea's 26th gold of the Games

Kim Jong-ho of South Korea celebrates after defeating Taiwan's Chang Cheng-wei to win the gold medal in the men's EMC archery individual event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the Okazaki Central General Park multipurpose plaza in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Thursday. [Yonhap]
Kim Jong-ho of South Korea celebrates after defeating Taiwan's Chang Cheng-wei to win the gold medal in the men's EMC archery individual event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the Okazaki Central General Park multipurpose plaza in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Thursday. [Yonhap]

Kim Jong-ho of Hyundai Steel became the first South Korean to win gold in the men's EMC archery individual event at the Asian Games.

Kim defeated Chang Cheng-wei of Taiwan 149-145 in the final of the men's EMC archery individual event Thursday at the Okazaki Central General Park multipurpose plaza in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

EMC archery uses a bow fitted with mechanical aids including pulleys and a sight, with competitors shooting at a target from 50 meters. The individual event is decided by the combined score of 15 arrows. Kim is the first South Korean male archer to win gold in the individual event since EMC was introduced as an official Asian Games discipline at the 2014 Incheon Games.

The only individual-event medal previously won by a South Korean man in EMC was Yang Jae-won's bronze at the 2022 Hangzhou Games. Across both genders, Kim's gold is South Korea's first in an EMC individual event in 12 years, since Choi Bo-min won the women's individual title at the 2014 Incheon Games.

In the quarterfinals, Kim fell behind early against Liao Jiahao of China but turned the match around in the final end to win 144-142. He then beat Ganesh Mani Ratnam Thirumurthy of India 148-144 in the semifinals.

Kim Jong-ho of South Korea holds up his gold medal after winning the men's EMC archery individual event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the Okazaki Central General Park multipurpose plaza in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Thursday. [Yonhap]
Kim Jong-ho of South Korea holds up his gold medal after winning the men's EMC archery individual event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the Okazaki Central General Park multipurpose plaza in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Thursday. [Yonhap]

Kim was even sharper in the final. He took the first end 29-28 against Chang, then hit all three arrows for 10 points in the second end to lead 59-57. A perfect score of 30 in the third end stretched his advantage to 89-86, and he led 119-115 after the fourth. Unfazed in the final end, Kim closed out the match 149-145. He hit 14 of his 15 arrows for 10 points, dropping just a single nine on his third arrow of the final.

Choi Yong-hee of Hyundai Steel, the senior member of the national team, was eliminated in the quarterfinals, losing 143-146 to Dang Cong Duc of Vietnam.

South Korea finished its EMC archery campaign at the Games with Kim's men's individual gold, a silver in the mixed team event, and bronze medals in the women's team event and the women's individual event won by Kang Yeon-seo. The men's team missed the podium entirely, losing the bronze-medal match to Taiwan by a single point, 233-234, to finish fourth.


yjc@heraldcorp.com