South Korea's Ban Hyo-jin (Daegu Public Facilities Management Corporation) and Park Ha-jun (KT) secured a silver medal in the mixed team air rifle event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
The duo recorded a total score of 502.9 points in the finals held on September 22 at the Aichi Prefectural Comprehensive Shooting Range in Japan.
They finished second, trailing behind China's Wang Zhipei and Sheng Lihao, who won gold with a score of 507.1 points, setting a new world record by surpassing the previous mark of 506.7 points set in March in Norway. Japan took home the bronze with a score of 439.7 points.
Earlier, in the preliminary round, South Korea scored 633.2 points, qualifying for the finals in third place behind China (638.9 points) and India (634.6 points).
In the finals, China quickly took the lead, while South Korea and Japan battled for second place.
The competition remained tight until the end. South Korea faced elimination, trailing Japan by 0.8 points, but managed a comeback after a timeout. Ban Hyo-jin scored 10.3 points, and Park Ha-jun added 10.9 points. Japan's Nova Misaki scored 10.5 points, but Hanakawa Naoki only managed 9.5 points, allowing South Korea to secure the silver by a margin of 0.4 points.
South Korea continued to compete for gold against China but could not close the gap. Wang Zhipei and Sheng Lihao finished with a combined score of 507.1 points, breaking the previous world record.
This marks Ban Hyo-jin's second medal of the tournament, following her bronze in the women's 10m air rifle individual event. Park Ha-jun also earned his second medal, having previously won bronze in the men's team event, bringing his total medal count at the Asian Games to five.
Notably, Park Ha-jun has now added another mixed event medal, following his success in the mixed team event at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics. With this silver medal, South Korea has secured its third medal in shooting at the tournament.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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