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S. Korean Ku Bon-chan wins archery gold

August 12, 2016

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) — South Korean archer Ku Bon-chan captured gold in the men’s individual event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Friday.

Ku defeated Jean-Charles Valladont of France 7-3 (30-28, 28-26, 29-29, 28-29, 27-26).

Archers take three arrows in each set. A set victory is worth two points, and a draw is good for one point. The first to reach six points is the winner.

Ku’s victory gave South Korea gold medals in each of the four archery disciplines here — men’s and women’s team and men’s and women’s individual.

No country has ever swept up four archery titles at a single Olympics since the competition expanded to four events in 1988.

Ku became the second double gold medalist for South Korea in Rio, after fellow archer Chang Hye-jin, who won her individual gold on Thursday.

Ku is also the first South Korean man to win two archery gold medals at an Olympics. While the men’s team has excelled at the Olympics, it wasn’t until the 2012 London Olympics that Oh Jin-hyek became the first South Korean to win the men’s individual gold.

Against Valladont, Ku scored a perfect 30 in the opening set. At 18-18 in the second set, Valladont shot an 8 and Ku came back with a 10 to go up 4-0.

They tied the third set and the Frenchman won the fourth set to narrow the gap. Valladont, however, had back-to-back 8s in the fifth set, and Ku capitalized on that opening to claim the gold medal.

Ku survived two sudden-death shoot-offs en route to the final. In the quarters, he was tied with Taylor Worth of Australia after five sets and had to hit a 10 in the shoot-off to stay alive. Then in the semis, Ku’s 9 beat an 8 by Brady Ellison of the United States.

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