Korean shooting athletes secured podium finishes for the second consecutive day at the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games. However, the anticipated medals in the men's 10m air rifle individual event did not materialize.
Shin Min-ki concluded the men's 10m air rifle final on September 21 at the Aichi Prefectural Comprehensive Shooting Range with a score of 166.2, placing him in 6th position.
Although Shin ranked 9th in the preliminary round, three Chinese competitors finished in the top eight, allowing him to advance to the final. Each country can send a maximum of two athletes to the final.
Park Ha-jun, who joined Shin in the final, scored 145.7 points, finishing in 7th place. Park had qualified for the final in 4th place but fell short of expectations.
Despite the individual results, both Shin and Park earned a bronze medal in the team event, based on their strong preliminary performances alongside Kwon Hyup-jun, who ranked 28th in the preliminaries. The team’s combined score placed them 3rd overall. The team event ranks competitors based on the combined scores of three athletes from the individual preliminary rounds.
This achievement marks the second consecutive day that the Korean shooting team has reached the podium. The previous day, Ban Hyo-jin, a gold medalist at the Paris Olympics, secured a bronze in the women's 10m air rifle individual final.
Shooting has historically been the sport in which Korea has won the most medals at the Asian Games. The current team features several standout athletes who have excelled at the Paris Olympics, including Ban Hyo-jin (gold in women's 10m air rifle), Park Ha-jun (silver in mixed team 10m air rifle), Oh Ye-jin (gold in women's 10m air pistol), and Yang Ji-in (gold in women's 25m pistol).
Oh Ye-jin is set to compete for gold in the women's 10m air pistol team event on September 23 and the women's 25m pistol team event on September 28, alongside Yang Ji-in. There is also potential for these athletes to achieve strong results in their individual events.
Additionally, the Asian Games may see the emergence of new talents, as Korea is known for its strong foundation in shooting sports. The Korean shooting team is poised to add more medals to its tally at this year's Asian Games, and their performances are expected to be noteworthy.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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