In the Hyundai Archery World Cup season opener, Lim Sihyeon and Li Jiaman faced off in a highly anticipated rivalry. Despite Li’s Chinese team causing an upset by defeating Sihyeon and Korea in their previous encounter, Sihyeon was determined to seek revenge.
The day began with intense competition in the recurve women’s qualification leaderboard as Sihyeon and Jiaman exchanged positions at the top. However, it was Sihyeon who emerged victorious with a final score of 685 points after a challenging round. Her familiarity with the Yecheon environment contributed to her success despite facing challenging wind conditions in the beginning.
Meanwhile, Jiaman finished third with a score of 678, behind Sihyeon’s teammate Jeon Hunyoung (680) and ahead of Shanghai runner-up Deepika Kumari (677), who achieved her best qualifying score since 2016. Kumari expressed her need for more confidence in her technique to improve her team’s performance.
As the Indian recurve women’s team seeded sixth and Sihyeon’s Korean team secured the top spot, their rivalry intensified. The upcoming matches in Yecheon promise to showcase their battle once again, adding excitement to the event.
On Thursday, recurve team eliminations will take place in the morning followed by individual matchplay in the afternoon. The ongoing battles between top archers like Sihyeon, Jiaman, and Kumari ensure an exciting and thrilling tournament for both competitors and spectators alike.
