China takes first ever Asiad recurve archery men’s team gold

INCHEON, South Korea, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) — China swept Malaysia 6-0 to clinch the recurve archery men’s team title for the first time at the Asian Games here on Sunday.

The Chinese young archers edged their South Korean peers 5-4 after the shoot-off in the semifinals two days ago, then defeated their final rivals from Malaysia without mercy.

“I have to say that I was a little bit nervous as it’s the first time I competed in a final,” said Qi Kaiyao, 21, who launched his campaign on Sunday with an excellent 10’s. “We had prepared for a hard fight with the rivals and we had strong confidence in ourselves.”

The three Chinese archers contributed to eleven 10’s in three sets while the Malaysians shot the center mark for eight times.

“We hadn’t expected that we could win so fast,” said Yong Zhiwei, who also qualified for the individual semifinals later on Sunday. “But we believed in ourselves. We had faith in the team.”

South Korea’s loss to China means it failed to secure its ninth straight gold in the event at the Asian Games, but the hosts managed to edge Japan 5-3 to grab the bronze medal earlier.

“Our male archers did perform well at the Asian Games,” said Mu Yong, the manager of the China’s archery team. “They kept calm and shot marvelously. Especially in today’s final, they showed no fear at all.”

In the women’s final, South Korea beat China 6-0 to defend their title. Japan took the bronze after beating India 5-4.

Source: English.news.cn