Korea’s Oh Yejin refused to get carried away after securing her first Hyundai Archery World Cup top seed in recurve women’s qualification at Antalya 2026 on Wednesday.
The Suwon 2024 Asia Cup winner – where she was also the top seed – was tied with Zhu Jingyi of China on 339 points at the halfway stage of the 72-arrow qualification round.
Zhu edged ahead at that point with one more arrow in the X-ring – the central zone within the 10-ring used to break ties in qualification – while the four-point gap back to third-placed Kang Chaeyoung suggested the battle for top seed would come down to who blinked first.
Rather impressively, neither did.
Zhu repeated her opening 339, but Oh went one point better to finish on 684, recording six more arrows in the 10-ring overall than her Chinese rival and ending 10 points shy of Lim Sihyeon’s world record of 694.
“It feels good for starters,” said Oh, whose score also marked a new international personal best at 70 metres. “Since this is just the qualification round, I’m not letting my guard down.”
“I don’t usually get very nervous, so whether I’m on the final stage or not doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.”
“The main difference from Shanghai was that I was able to showcase more of what I’d been practising – my own flow.”
In stark contrast to the celebrations from China’s compound men’s team earlier in the day, Oh appeared quietly satisfied after securing top spot.
Had it not been for the fact the Korean is only 22 years old and competing in just her second Hyundai Archery World Cup, her composure throughout qualification might have suggested years of experience on the international stage.
But controlling the heartbeat is one of the qualities that has long set Korea apart in recurve archery, particularly in the women’s discipline, where the nation secured a 10th consecutive Olympic team gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Oh finished second behind Zhu in Shanghai last month, and it would come as little surprise if the pair met again later this week in Antalya.
Zhu, meanwhile, continued the strongest run of form of her career despite finishing six points behind the Korean archer.
The Chinese recurve woman won all three available gold medals in Puebla before claiming individual and mixed team silver in Shanghai.
“After the whole competition in Shanghai, I encountered a lot of problems,” revealed the Gwangju 2025 Hyundai World Archery Championships recurve women’s silver medallist. “Recently, I’ve been adjusting at home and solidifying my fundamentals so I can perform well in this competition.”
“I felt relaxed and more at ease. Mentally, I think I have more faith in myself. I’m not as discouraged.”
“I think my playing style was very similar in both rounds, so I felt relaxed and knew exactly how to execute the release and how to execute a perfect 10-ring shot.”
Action resumes on Thursday in Antalya with recurve team eliminations in the morning followed by mixed team eliminations later in the day.
Top seeds: Antalya 2026
Full results on the event page.
Recurve men
- Baptiste Addis, France – 687
- Kim Je Deok, Korea – 683
- Wang Yan, China – 682
Eight archers shot 680+.
Recurve women
- Oh Yejin, Korea – 684
- Zhu Jingyi, China – 678
- Kumkum Anil Mohod, India – 671
12 archers shot 660+.
Antalya 2026: Five archers to watch
