Kang Chaeyoung Wins World Archery Championships Gold in Individual Event... An San Takes Bronze

Korean National Team Finishes Tournament Ranked First Overall

On the 12th, Kang Chaeyoung, who won the women's individual recurve final at the 2025 World Archery Championships held at the 5·18 Democracy Square in the National Asian Culture Complex, Dong-gu, Gwangju, is celebrating. Photo by Yonhap News

Kang Chaeyoung of Hyundai Mobis, who returned to the national archery team after four years, claimed the gold medal in the women's recurve individual event at the World Archery Championships.

On September 12, at the 5·18 Democracy Square in Gwangju, Kang Chaeyoung defeated Zhu Jingyi of China 7-3 (29-29, 29-28, 29-29, 30-30, 29-28) in the final of the women's recurve individual event on the last day of the 2025 Gwangju World Archery Championships.

Having previously won three gold medals in the women's and mixed team events at the World Championships, Kang Chaeyoung stood tall as a 'world champion' by capturing her first individual gold medal. Her previous best individual result at the World Championships was a runner-up finish at the 2019 's-Hertogenbosch event.

Kang Chaeyoung, who won gold in the women's team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, was not selected for the national team for major international competitions for some time, but made her return this year after four years.

The biggest hurdle to her victory was the semifinal match against An San of Gwangju Bank, who had the enthusiastic support of her hometown fans. Kang Chaeyoung lost the first two sets, but maintained stable scores of 9 to 10 points from the third set onward, as An San began to falter, and secured a 6-4 (27-29, 29-30, 28-27, 28-27, 29-26) win.

Kang Chaeyoung, who staged a comeback against her teammate from the Tokyo Olympic women's team victory, also faced a tense battle in the final. In the final, both Kang Chaeyoung and 19-year-old rising star Zhu Jingyi never shot below 8 points. Nevertheless, Kang Chaeyoung never relinquished the lead and sealed her victory by scoring a perfect 10 with her final arrow.

On the 12th, at the 2025 World Archery Championships Recurve Women's Individual Awards Ceremony held at the 5·18 Democracy Square in the National Asian Culture Complex, Dong-gu, Gwangju, Kang Chaeyoung and An San are looking at the Taegeukgi as the national anthem plays. Photo by Yonhap News

An San secured her pride by winning the bronze medal match against Diananda Choirunisa of Indonesia with a 6-4 (28-27, 28-27, 27-29, 29-29, 29-29) victory.

An San was born in Gwangju and graduated from Gwangju Munsan Elementary School, Gwangju Physical Education Middle School, Gwangju Physical Education High School, and Gwangju Women's University. She currently represents Gwangju Bank. As the face of this tournament, An San played a key role from the city's bid to host the event, serving as a promotional ambassador. She collected three medals at this championship: a silver in the mixed team event, a bronze in the women's team event, and a bronze in the women's individual event.

Lim Siyun, a triple gold medalist at the Paris Olympics from Korea National Sport University, ended her medal challenge in the quarterfinals after losing 4-6 (27-28, 30-25, 27-28, 28-26, 28-29) to Choirunisa.

Former President Moon Jaein and his wife Kim Jung-sook attended the venue to watch the matches between Kang Chaeyoung and An San, including the bronze medal match and the final. The Korean recurve national team produced a solid result at this championship, winning a total of six medals (two gold, one silver, and three bronze).

On September 10, the team won gold in the men's team event, silver in the mixed team event, and bronze in the women's team event. On September 11, Kim Jeduk of Yecheon County Office claimed a bronze medal in the men's individual event.

Although the results surpassed those of the 2023 Berlin Championships, where Korea won only two gold medals, the team fell short of its goal of sweeping all events. Including the bronze medal won by Choi Yonghee of Hyundai Steel in the men's compound individual event, the Korean archery team collected a total of seven medals at this championship.

Meanwhile, the Korean national team finished the tournament ranked first overall, ahead of Mexico (two gold, one bronze).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.