Korea gets gold, silver in pistols at Universiade

Korea added to its medal count over the weekend at the Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia, picking up a gold medal in the men’s team 10-meter air pistols and a silver for the women’s team in the same event.

The Korean men’s team, composed of Lee Dae-myung, Seo Deok-won and Kim Tae-young, combined for 1,727 points in the finals, beating China by four points.

Seo led Korea with 578 points, Lee added 577 points and Kim has 572 points. It is second time in a row that Korea won the men’s team event in the 10-meter air pistol.

At the individual event, however, none of the Korean men won a medal. Seo finished sixth in the eight-man final on Saturday, while Lee finished seventh.

The Korean women’s team, led by Cho Mun-hyeon, Park Ji-won, and Park Ye-sol, shot for 1,132 points, just one point behind Russia. As of Saturday, Korea stood in fourth at the Universiade with 14 gold medals. China has also won 14 gold medals, but leads Korea in silver medals, 19 to seven.

Korea’s gold count came chiefly from badminton and judo, with five golds in each event. In badminton, Korea won the men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles and team competition.

In judo, Wang Ki-chun won the men’s -73 kilogram event, while Gwak Dong-han won the men’s -90 kilogram. Cho Gu-ham added a gold in the men’s +100 kilogram and Hwang Ye-sul in the women’s -70 kilogram. Korean women judokas also won the team competition.

Korea, which sent 234 athletes to Kazan, is seeking to defend its third-place finish at the last Summer Universiade, held in Shenzhen, China in 2011.

BY MOON GWANG-LIP [joe@joongang.co.kr]