GUANGZHOU, China (Yonhap News) ― When the Chinese archer Dai Xiaoxiang shot a 6 with his team’s second-to-last arrow in the final of the men’s team event against South Korea Monday, audible gasps could be heard around the Aoti Archery Range here in southern China ― those of shock, disbelief and sympathy for an athlete who almost singlehandedly ruined his country’s chances at a gold medal.

South Korea ended up winning by four points.

It wasn’t the only Chinese slip against South Korea in archery at these Asian Games. Last Sunday, during the second shoot-off in the women’s team final, South Korea’s Joo Hyun-jung, Ki Bo-bae and Yun Ok-hee all shot perfect 10s. China’s first archer, Cheng Ming, matched with a 10 of her own, but the next one, Zhang Yunlu, shot only a 7 to hand the gold medal to South Korea.

 

Some might say the South Koreans got lucky and China gift-wrapped gold medals on both occasions. Experts said an archer good enough to make the finals isn’t prone to shooting a 7, let alone a 6.

But experts also said the South Korean archers deserve credit for putting pressure on their opponents, causing the other teams to make mistakes, while not committing any themselves. What’s between the ears is what separates South Korea from others in archery, despite the notable emergence of other countries.

Kim Soo-nyung, a former Olympic gold medal-winning archer, said the South Korean men put themselves in a position to win gold and their superior skills forced the Chinese to rush their shots.

“I could see that psychologically and physically, the Chinese archers were too rattled near the end,” said Kim after the men’s team final. She was in Guangzhou to provide commentary for a South Korean network. “The Chinese didn’t hand it to us. We beat them with our skills because we didn’t make mistakes and they did.”

Kim said no one wishes bad fortune on rivals and the best South Koreans can do is shoot the best they can and wait for others to make mistakes.

And this is where the mistakes come into play.

In the team events, the order of shooting is determined on scores from the previous rounds. Since South Koreans almost always record top scores in earlier rounds leading up to the gold medal match, they can choose whether to shoot first or second.

Kim Seong-hoon, head coach of the men’s team here, said his side likes to shoot first and “watch others go off the mark.”

“We like to shoot first and put up good scores, and let the other guys see our points,” Kim said with a smile. “Our best defense is our best offense, so to speak.”