Kim Woojin leads Korea to double gold in Antalya recurve team events
Despite an early exit in the individual event, Kim Woojin delivered outstanding performances to help Korea secure gold in both the recurve men’s team and mixed team competitions at the third stage of the 2025 Hyundai World Cup in Antalya.
All-time great Woojin defeated Germany twice in the finals – first with fellow Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallists Lee Woo Seok and Kim Je Deok in a men’s team shoot-off, then shortly after partnering Olympic Champion Lim Sihyeon to overcome Katharina Bauer and Florian Unruh in the mixed team event, 6-2.
The victories came after Woojin’s surprise second-round loss to Andres Temino Mediel in the men’s individual matches. The defending Hyundai Archery World Cup Final Champion showed that was a minor setback in an otherwise stellar record, impressing everyone at Antalya Beach Park with his resilience.
“Even though the rules have been changed for Antalya, the results were good. So maybe if the rules are changed also for the Olympic and Asian Games, it’s been a great opportunity to get used to it,” Woojin said, reflecting on the week’s new competition format.
“Sports are unpredictable, this is why people are interested in archery. It happened [the individuals loss], but I’m going to make sure it never happens again.”
On Sunday, Woojin’s shooting was markedly improved from the previous day, despite having less rest. Across 17 arrows in the two finals, he scored seven 10s, five 11s and five nines, averaging an impressive 10.00 points in the men’s team and 9.88 in the mixed team.
The most crucial shot was his shoot-off 10 against Germany’s men, who had fought back from 4-0 to 4-4 to force sudden death. Unruh, like Woojin headed to the 2025 Nanjing grand finale of archery’s premier international circuit, dropped a costly eight to hand Korea the win.
“I didn’t really care about the schedule because it’s really flexible,” added the five-time World Cup champion. “Of course, to be the best athlete in the world the schedule must never matter.”
An elite mindset from an elite archer.
Meanwhile, the USA women’s recurve team reversed their Central Florida 2025 defeat to China by overcoming Italy 6-2 in Antalya’s gold medal match. Casey Kaufhold, Catalina Gnoriega and Jennifer Mucino‘s six 11s provided a strong platform, while Italy’s Chiara Rebagliati, Loredana Spera and Roberta Di Francesco managed only two centre-ring arrows.
Mucino cooled off with a portable fan immediately after the contest, highlighting the biggest challenge all archers face in Türkiye’s boiling heat.
“Not every shot can be perfect because of the heat, but overall, we all did pretty good shots,” she said.
The recurve individual matches are still ongoing to conclude Antalya 2025 and can be watched live archery+.
Podiums: Antalya 2025
Full results on the event page.
Recurve men’s team
- Korea (Kim Je Deok, Kim Woojin, Lee Wooseok)
- Germany (Florian Unruh, Jonathan Vetter, Moritz Wieser)
- France (Baptiste Addis, Jean-Charles Valladont, Thomas Chirault)
Recurve women’s team
- USA (Catalina Gnoriega, Casey Kaufhold, Jennifer Mucino)
- Italy (Roberta Di Francesco, Chiara Rebagliati, Loredana Spera)
- Korea (Lim Sihyeon, Kang Chaeyoung, An San)
Recurve mixed team
- Korea (Lim Sihyeon, Kim Woojin)
- Germany (Katharina Bauer, Florian Unruh)
- Japan (Satsuki Tokugawa, Funahashi Yuya)
Watch coverage from Antalya with a subscription to archery+.
