By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
The Korean men's and women's archery teams swept the gold medals at the Outdoor Archery World Championships held in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday.
The triumph marked a third-straight title for the ladies, who topped 10 of the last 15 worlds events.
The women's team, which beat Britain to setup a final showdown with Chinese Taipei, got off to a quick start with Lee Tuek-young and Choi Eun-young starting with two perfect 10s, followed by an eight by Park Sung-hyun. The Koreans had a 57-53 edge after the first end and increased their lead to 114-108, with Lee shooting four 10s to that point.
Chinese Taipei managed to make a late comeback, shooting 10-10-10 with three arrows to go in the fourth end, a surge led by ace Yuan Shu Chi who scored perfect throughout the match, shooting an astonishing eight 10s with only eight arrows.
However, with Chinese Taipei finishing at 10-9-9 and 212 points, Korea held on to the gold medal with 226 points, tying their own world-record set last year at the World Cup in Turkey.
``I am very happy as it was hard to win a gold medal in teams in today's competition. We have trained a lot together, and although I was disappointed with my performance in the individual competitions, I stayed focused to help the team,'' said Choi.
The men's team matched the triumph of their female counterparts by trouncing Britain in convincing fashion with a final score of 224 to 214.
The Koreans overcame a slow start on their first three arrows to grab a 55-54 edge after the first end and widened the lead to 112-107 at the half-way point helped by the British team finishing the second end with a 7.
The Britons rebounded in the third end to pull an intermediate total of 162 points, but the Koreans maintained a four-point lead with 166 points led by the hot hands of Lee Chang-hwan and Lim Dong-hyun, and clinched the gold medal before the last arrow was shot in the fourth end.
``We are a great team, and setting a world record of 231 points doesn't happen by accident. We also benefit from a tradition of winning and we are happy to carry on the flame,'' said Lee.