(2nd LD) (Asiad) S. Korea wins gold in men's team rapid fire pistol shooting

NAGOYA, Japan, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea won the gold medal in the men's team 25-meter rapid fire pistol event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday.

The South Korean trio of Yoon Seo-yeong, Song Jong-ho and Lee Gun-hyeok finished first with 1,749 points in the event's final at Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Toyota, some 25 kilometers east of Nagoya, the main host city.

China took silver with 1,740 points, while Indonesia won bronze with 1,720 points.

It was South Korea's first gold medal in the event since the 2014 Asian Games, with Song repeating the feat 12 years later as a member of the 2014 gold-medal team.

It was also South Korea's second shooting gold medal at the ongoing competition.

In the 25-meter rapid fire pistol event, competitors fire five shots at five separate targets within a strict time limit of 8, 6 or 4 seconds, with each athlete firing 60 shots.

Three shooters from each country compete for individual scores and rankings in the qualification round, and the scores of the individual team members are combined to determine the cumulative team standings and medals.

South Korea's Lee ranked second with 588 points, Yoon third with 581 and Song fourth with 580, while China's Su Lianbofan finished first with an Asian Games record of 592 points.

The combined scores of the three South Korean shooters totaled 1,749 points, while China's three shooters recorded an aggregate 1,740 points. China's He Shiyu and Yang Yuhao scored 576 and 572 points, respectively.

Based on the qualification results, Lee and Yoon advanced to the individual final later in the day, while Song was unable to advance due to the two-shooter limit per country.

Lee went on to take the individual gold medal to cap a victorious day for South Korea.

Song, the senior member of the trio at 36, said he was proud of his two teammates.

"This is a great day for South Korean shooting," Song said. "Twelve years ago, I was so raw. I just kept my head down and put in the work, without even knowing how to go about it. Now, I wanted to be the pillar for my younger teammates."

Song said he will not let his advanced age get in the way.

"People say shooters are in their prime in their late 20s and early 30s, but I think I am getting started again," he added. "I am drawing inspiration from younger shooters, and I will challenge myself to the limit."

Yoon, the youngest shooter on the team at 24, said he had been battling flu for the past four days. He even had to wear a mask during the final.

"I had so much fever and I could barely put any weight on my arm," he said. "But the team event is not about me alone. I never wanted to let my teammates down."

All three shooters were already looking ahead to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, though they will have to fight each other for spots on the national team because there is no team event in the 25m rapid fire.

"Although I won the individual gold here, I also came away with a clear understanding of what I need to do better," Lee said. "I will address those shortcomings so that I can dominate the competition to win the gold medal at the Olympics."

Yoon said he is just starting out in his career and he will have much more room to grow.

"I will try to keep taking big steps forward and stand on the top of the Olympic podium," he said.