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Jang Minhee begins World Cup journey with pole position at Shanghai 2026

6 May 2026

Shanghai, China

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Jang Minhee doing a thumbs up after poling at Shanghai 2026.

Jang Minhee wasted no time in getting settled on the World Cup scene as she poled emphatically in the recurve women’s category at Shanghai 2026 – the second stage of the 2026 tour.

The Yankton 2021 World champion headed a Korean one-two-three-four in the qualification leaderboard but was outside the top five at the halfway point of 36 arrows with 328, sitting at the bottom of the high-bar Korean quartet – which, staggeringly, does not feature the two previous Olympic champions Sihyeon Lim and An San.

In the second half, however, Minhee’s quality really came to the fore as she dispatched 22 of her arrows into the 10, and five of her shots in the final end went into the minuscule X-ring to give her a four-point gap from second-placed Oh Yejin, finishing with a score of 674.

“I took first place in the qualifiers for my first World Cup appearance, so obviously I'm very happy,” said Minhee, who just missed out on Korea's 20th Asian Games squad in last month's trials. “I was thinking, ‘Since this is the last round, let’s finish it off well and have fun.’”

“I didn't care much about the wind, I just believed in myself and tried to do my best. I focused on my aiming and the result was good.”

Although the second-oldest member of Korea's women’s team, two years younger than 29-year-old Kang Chaeyoung [also 670 but less Xs than Yejin], Minhee is one of the shyest and did not offer a long monologue about how successful the afternoon session went for her at Yuanshen Sports Centre, instead quietly enjoying the moment.

It seems as if she knew pulling a result like this on her first time on archery’s premier international circuit was always on the cards, despite her novelty to the circuit.

Coming into Shanghai at the bottom of the Asian Games pile could have been the spark however she needed to make a point, and judging by how Minhee mastered the unpredictable gusts in the stadium venue rather than fade, her resoluteness clearly makes her the archer to beat in recurve women.

Given their history and this result, Minhee is primed to join the long list of Korean gold medallists at World Cups, as could Yejin and Lee Yunji, two other tour debutants.

Minhee knew exactly what needed to be done for pole position, while Chinese Taipei’s Tang Chih-Chun needed to be told he had won the recurve men’s top seed.

The Puebla – stage one – silver medallist is in a rich vein of form but was surprised when he was asked by photographers for the end-of-day pictures, not realising he had finished ahead of the 89-strong recurve men’s athlete contingent.

“During the competition, we were all very focused on our own movements. It's just a ranking, and I told myself to focus on that ranking, whatever it may be.”

“For this competition, I hope to get first place individually. So, with that goal in mind, I concentrated on the ranking matches, focusing on things I hadn't paid special attention to, and so the final results [of qualification] were a bit of a surprise.”

“I don't usually pay much attention to results because focusing on past outcomes easily makes me nervous, and that might lead to a poor performance,” he added when asked if checking results live in the moment affects him.

He pushed Brady Ellison all the way in Puebla but fell just short 6-4 at the final hurdle. Judging by his score of 690 and his relaxed nature - which does not come around often to 25 year old athletes - Chih-Chun looks ready to go one step further in Shanghai and claim his maiden individual World Cup gold.

Action resumes tomorrow in Shanghai with recurve team eliminations in the morning, followed by compound and recurve mixed team eliminations in the late afternoon.