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Emotional Vietnam wins first recurve men’s team World Cup medal

5 May 2026

Shanghai, China

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They may not have made it to Sunday’s recurve finals, but the Vietnam men’s team still became the story of the day as they secured bronze at the second stage of the 2026 Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit in Shanghai.

Le Quoc Phong, Nguyen Hoang Phi Vu and Nguyen Duy defeated USA’s Brady Ellison, Trenton Cowles and Jack Williams 5-3 in the bronze medal match to claim Vietnam’s maiden World Cup podium in recurve men’s team.

Wild celebrations erupted after Hoang’s winning 10 confirmed the historic result.

The achievement was even more remarkable considering none of Vietnam’s archers in Shanghai are ranked inside the world’s top 50, with Duy and Quoc Phong never having stepped onto an international podium before.

“Honestly, this feels absolutely wonderful and holds immense significance for both me and the entire team,” said first shooter Quoc Phong, the only Vietnamese representative at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. “It marks the first time we have ever won a world-level medal. Right now, I feel incredibly happy, and my emotions are truly indescribable.”

“Our primary objective remains the Asian Games; therefore, we intend to use the medal we won at this tournament as both motivation and a springboard to conquer even greater challenges.”

The greatest challenge for Quoc Phong and his teammates at Aichi-Nagoya, and for the rest of the season, will undoubtedly be Korea.

Vietnam experienced the level required to overcome the Paris-winning trio of Kim Woojin, Lee Woo Seok and Kim Je Deok, as Korea did not shoot below 55 in any of their semifinal sets – 57, 57 and 58 – in a 5-1 victory.

Korea averaged 9.56 as a team in that match, with Woojin putting all six arrows into the 10-ring.

That is now close to the minimum level required on most days to challenge the seemingly inevitable Koreans, and increasing their own averages will certainly be on Vietnam’s agenda in the build-up to Japan.

Quoc Phong was eliminated earlier in the hot morning session at the Yuanshen Sports Centre – where temperatures climbed above 30 degrees Celsius – but his 6-4 loss to Kazakhstan’s Ilfat Abdullin became, in his eyes, a blessing in disguise, helping him identify what needed improving for the team event.

“After losing my individual match, I felt I needed to figure out what adjustments to make – especially for the team event,” he said. “I really tried to focus on the clock and my form to improve, so that I could better support my teammates in the team matches.”

India and Japan remain the frontrunners to challenge Korea later this season, but Vietnam – now the second-highest-finishing Asian recurve men’s team in Shanghai – has certainly established itself as one to watch ahead of Japan.

That can wait for later, though, as for now the entire Vietnamese contingent will celebrate Thursday’s history-making feat.

India also impressed on Thursday, upsetting Olympic and world championship gold medallist Korea 5-1 in recurve women’s team. Korea later recovered to claim bronze.

Competition continues this afternoon in Shanghai with compound and recurve mixed team eliminations.