(LEAD) (Asiad) Shin Ji-eun wins bronze in cycling for S. Korea's 1st medal

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's first medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games came from road cycling on Sunday, as Shin Ji-eun grabbed bronze in the women's individual time trial event.

Shin finished third with a time of 36:56.14 at Shinshiro Cycling Road Course in Shinshiro, some 60 kilometers east of the main host city, Nagoya.

Rinata Sultanova of Kazakhstan claimed the gold medal in 36:23.72, and Zhang Hao of China won silver in 36:28.40.

Sunday is the first day of the medal race following the opening ceremony from the previous night.

South Korea is targeting around 45 gold medals at this year's Asiad, which will conclude Oct. 4.

In Sunday's race, Shin covered her first lap in 12:58.31 to rank fourth. She moved up to third after finishing her second lap in 11:51.39 and came home in 12:06.44 to clinch her bronze medal.

Shin, 24, came into the Asian Games in strong form. She finished third in the individual road race and fourth in the individual time trial at the Asian Road Cycling Championships in Saudi Arabia this past February. Then at the Asian Track Cycling Championships in the Philippines in March, Shin won bronze in omnium and helped South Korea finish fourth in team pursuit.

At the Asian Games, Shin will now move to track events, with madison, omnium and team pursuit on the horizon.