"Unbelievable": Triple-crown hopeful Kim Je-deok suffers shock elimination; only Lee Woo-seok survives after falling 0-4 [Nagoya Asian Games]

[Financial News] South Korean archery's pride was shaken fiercely in the heart of Nagoya. The trusted ace was eliminated in the round of 16, while the veteran barely survived after being pushed to the brink. For the Korean archers, the stage in Okazaki was a merciless drama that kept everyone on edge.
The men's recurve individual round of 16 at the 2026 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya, held on the 29th at the multipurpose plaza inside Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, brought both a deep shadow and breathtaking joy to South Korean archery. The biggest shock was the early elimination of Kim Je-deok of Yecheon County Office, known as the 'icon of fighting spirit.'
Kim Je-deok advanced as the overall second-place finisher and the top-ranked Korean in the ranking round, securing a spot in the mixed team event as well. He was considered a leading candidate to win three gold medals at these Games. But India's Niraj Chauhan, whom he faced in the round of 16, refused to give way. Kim made an uneasy start by dropping the first set, then fought back to level the set score at 4-4 through the fourth set. However, he faltered in the decisive fifth set. Kim collapsed after scoring just 27 points in the final set and lost 4-6 to Chauhan, who scored 29. His ambitious bid for three gold medals at the Asian Games thus came to a hollow end in the round of 16.
With the atmosphere frozen by Kim Je-deok's shocking defeat, Lee Woo-seok of Kolon also faced the worst possible crisis when he stepped onto the shooting line. Against Iran's Reza Shabani, Lee was helplessly dragged to a 0-4 deficit early in the match. It was a moment when fears mounted that South Korean archery could be completely wiped out in the men's individual round of 16.

But the experience of the 2018 Jakarta silver medalist and 2022 Hangzhou bronze medalist showed its value at the brink of elimination. After quickly recalibrating his aim, Lee won three consecutive sets to level the match at 5-5, displaying tremendous resilience. Then came the decisive shoot-off. In a fiercely contested battle decided by a single arrow, Lee's shot landed precisely in the center of the target for a 10. Shabani managed only a 9, allowing Lee to complete a dramatic 6-5 comeback and heave a huge sigh of relief after narrowly escaping elimination.
In the end, Lee Woo-seok was the only South Korean men's archer to survive and reach the quarterfinals. Kim Woo-jin of Cheongju City Hall, widely regarded as the world's strongest, could not even step onto the individual competition line after being edged out in the ranking round under the Asian Games rule allowing only two athletes per country. It was a bitter contrast created by South Korea's notoriously fierce internal competition—said to be harder than winning a gold medal—and the razor-thin margins of international competition.
Lee Woo-seok, who barely survived, will face Bhutan's Kinley Tshering on October 3 for a place in the semifinals.
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