Gold medal dream stopped in the quarterfinals, archery Kwak Gun-hwi lost in the quarterfinals

Sep 05, 2024

Courtesy of the Korean Sports Council for the Disabled

Kwak Gun-hwi (34, Hyundai Everdigm), who risked his pride in Korean archery, delayed his goal of winning the gold medal to the next opportunity by losing to the one-handed 'halfhand' archer Taymon Kenton-Smith (Australia).

Kwak Kun-hwi lost to Kenton-Smith 6-27 26-28 29-25 26-28 in the quarterfinals of the Men's Recurve Open at 1:21 a.m. on the 5th (Korea time) in Paris, France. Kwak Geon-hwi, who came up after defeating Turkiye's Yavuz Papagan 6-2 (29-26 23-28 28-26 25-23), made it to the quarterfinals in his first Paralympic appearance.

In 2010, he suffered a spinal cord disorder in a fall accident while serving in the military. Kwak Geon-hwi, who is 20 years old at the age of only thinking about dreams and hopes, was also hurt in his heart. He said he didn't remember the situation at the time of the accident. Maybe he wanted to erase it from his memory. Kwak Geon-hwi stayed at home after the accident.

Courtesy of the Korean Sports Council for the Disabled

However, Busan man Kwak Geon-hwi came out of the house again after meeting the exercise. Through the Busan Sports Council for the Disabled team at Gangseo Sports Park in Busan, I encountered several sports. I tried shooting, table tennis, swimming, and fencing, but there was no sport as interesting as archery. As I immersed myself in exercise with interest, my grades improved. Eventually, he became an elite athlete and even took the stage at the Paralympics. My parents, who always cheer and encourage me, were very happy when Kwak Kun-hwi came out of the house after he started exercising, got his driver's license, and even made the national team as an elite sportsman.

Ahead of the Paris Paralympics, Kwak Kun-hwi said, `My goal is gold no matter what. I will win a gold medal in both individual and mixed events," he said, expressing his confident determination. However, the Paralympic stage was not easy.

The quarterfinal opponent Kenton-Smith is four years younger than Kwak Gun-hee, but his archery career is more than twice as long. It is said that he started archery around the age of four or five. Kenton-Smith, who has no left hand, pulls the protest with his right hand with his bow fixed to his left arm.

Courtesy of the Korean Sports Council for the Disabled

He showed formidable skills from the first end. Kwak Gun-hwi's first shot was 8 points. Kenton-Smith shot nine points. Later, while Kwak Gun-hwi shot 9 points and 8 points, Kenton-Smith continued to penetrate the 9-point zone. They trailed 0-2. In the second end, Kwak Gun-hwi also shot 10 points in the first shot. However, he scored only eight points on the second and third shots. Kenton-Smith consistently hit nine points. The score was 0-4.

Kwak Gun-hwi raised his concentration from the third end. After nine points, he scored 10 points twice in a row, showing off his potential as the 'world's strongest Korean archery'. Kenton-Smith had 28 points. I got two points back. Finally tied it at the fourth end. Kwak Geon-hwi scored another 10 points in the first shot. He scored 10 points in three consecutive shots. Kenton-Smith was agitated. 9 points - 8 points - 8 points. Kwak Kun-hwi scored a total of 29 points in the fourth end with 9 points and 10 points, eventually making it 4-4.

Just as the atmosphere of a come-from-behind victory was formed. There was a sudden gust of wind in Anvalid. Kwak Gun-hwi delayed the shooting timing as much as possible and waited for the wind to subside. But in the end, I had no choice but to shoot. It was eight points. At Kenton-Smith's turn, the wind calmed again. Kenton-Smith cheered with 10 points. Kwak Gun-hwi shot 9 points in the second shot and Kenton-Smith shot 8 points, resulting in a 17-18 one-point difference. Kwak Gun-hwi shot nine points and waited. But the seasoned Kenton-Smith got through to Exten.

Courtesy of the Korean Sports Council for the Disabled

Kwak Geon-hwi, who failed to reach the semifinals of the individual competition, said, "It's my first Paralympic Games, and it's very"I couldn't say it well. It seemed to be on my mind that I missed the chance to turn the tables. He "It's too bad for the last five-end first shot. I was waiting for a sudden strong wind, but it didn't go well. That's how archery is supposed to be. I think I need to practice more"I'll try the individual medal at the next Paralympics."I vowed.

Kwak Gun-hwi will work with veteran archer Jang Kyung-sook at 6:20 p.m. on the 5th to win a medal again at the mixed recurve open.

wman@sportschosun.com