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Kang Chaeyoung takes Korea’s second gold in Gwangju as An San falls at home

12 septembre 2025

Gwangju, Korea

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Kang Chaeyoung celebrating with her medal.

There was no fairytale ending for Gwangju native An San, as it was Kang Chaeyoung who claimed Korea’s only gold medal of the 2025 Hyundai World Archery Championships in the recurve women’s event.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion An San had the crowd firmly behind her throughout the day, with cheers rising in volume every time her arrows landed on the target.

But those cheers turned to sighs as her semifinal slipped away, capped by a 6-4 loss to teammate Kang. The latter then went on to defeat China’s Zhu Jingyi in the gold medal match, securing her first world title after finishing runner-up at the 2019 edition.

“Yesterday I was a bit disappointed because we couldn’t get the gold medal in the women’s team match, but today I had to focus on myself,” said Kang after a long run of interviews at 5.18 Democracy Square. “It went well and I played without any regrets.

“To be honest, physically I was more ready in 2019, but the result was different. This year I finally get the gold medal and I’m really, really happy.”

“After the second end [of my semifinal], the score was 0-4, so I was almost losing but I could bounce back and win the match and I finally got the gold medal. An San did very well in the bronze medal match, so I’m really happy for her.”

An San had been the story all week.

Representing Korea in her hometown, she topped qualification with a personal best of 692 and helped set new mixed team and women’s team world records. All signs pointed to the ending she had dreamed of since Gwangju was announced as host in 2021.

Kang Chaeyoung and An San on the shooting line at 5.18 Democracy Square.

Two 6-2 wins over China’s Huang Yuwei and Li Jiaman – both members of the gold medal women’s team at Central Florida 2025 – suggested that destiny was on her side. After struggling for individual wins at Hyundai Archery World Cup stages this year, the 24-year-old looked back to her Tokyo 2020 best.

But her Olympic teammate had other ideas.

Kang’s nickname, The Destroyer – earned when she became the first woman to break 690 points across 72 arrows – proved fitting as she crushed her compatriot’s hopes.

An San had led 4-0 in their semifinal before the home support became a distraction. She admitted afterwards that the raised noise after the second end pulled her out of focus.

“I couldn’t focus on myself, but after the match I tried to not care about losses, just thinking about myself,” she said, explaining how she managed the distraction better in her 6-4 bronze medal victory over Diananda Choirunisa.

A windless, overcast day in southern Korea made for near-perfect shooting conditions, but the invaluable archery element of single-mindedness deserted An San – something that the legendary Ki Bo Bae, watching on from the commentary booth, had in abundance during her heyday.

The London 2012 Olympic Champion has been providing Korean commentary all week – and there was no better audience for Kang to showcase her talent in front of. She shot four 29s and a perfect 30 against Zhu in the final, winning 7-3, even if she hadn’t realised who was watching.

“I didn’t even know she [Ki Bo Bae] was watching my game, but after the games, during the ceremony, I noticed,” said Kang. “I’m really happy that she was watching and showing up for me.”

The recurve women’s final closed the 2025 Hyundai World Archery Championships in Gwangju.

You can rewatch all compound and recurve finals with a subscription to archery+.