Korean shooter Choe Dae-han falls short in men's air rifle final

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Korean shooter Choe Dae-han falls short in men's air rifle final

Published: 29 Jul. 2024, 20:54

Korea's Choe Dae-han, with the Olympic rings on his neck, prepares to compete in the 10-meter air rifle men's final at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Chateauroux, France on Monday. [AP/YONHAP]

Korean sport shooter Choe Dae-han failed to replicate Ban Hyo-jin’s success at the Paris Olympics Monday, placing seventh in the men’s 10-meter air rifle final shortly after his teammate won the nation’s 100th-ever medal in the history of the Games.

Choe qualified for the eight-man final round earlier the same day, snatching the fifth spot with 630.8 points. The 19-year-old holds the Korean record in men's 10-meter air rifle, with a personal best 634.1 points.

But he fell short in the race for a medal, ending the first stage in seventh place with 103.3 points. He made it to the 14th shot with 145.2 points but failed to overtake Italy’s Danilo Dennis Sollazzo, who had a score of 145.4, to stay in medal contention.

Choe ends his first Olympics without a medal. He also competed in the mixed 10-meter air rifle team contest with Ban on Saturday, but the two finished the qualification round in 22nd place and out of a spot in the final.

Korea’s Park Ha-jun and Keum Ji-hyeon went on to win silver in that event, claiming Korea’s first medal of the Paris Games.

Korea had won four shooting medals as of press time Monday — two gold and two silver.

Sixteen-year-old Ban beat China’s Huang Yuting in a shoot-off to win gold in the women’s 10-meter air rifle contest earlier Monday.

Oh Ye-jin and Kim Ye-ji topped the women’s 10-meter air pistol contest Sunday, winning gold and silver, respectively.

Korea has yet to win a medal in an individual men’s shooting event at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, France as of press time.

The sport shooting schedule continues Tuesday with the 10-meter air rifle mixed team bronze-medal match, with gold-medalist Oh and Lee Won-ho representing Korea against India.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]