At the historic moment, the national anthem sounded loudly in the sky above the Binjiang Financial Plaza. On April 28, the 2024 Hyundai Motor Archery World Cup - Lujiazui Financial City Shanghai Station came to an end. In the most intense recurve bow women's team competition, the Chinese team fighting at home defeated the South Korean team 6-2 and won the archery World Cup championship for the first time in history.
As the points competition of the Paris Olympic Games and the opening match of the new season, this year's Archery World Cup Shanghai Station is full of famous players, 4 Olympic champions, 11 World Championship champions, 4 World Cup Finals champions, 20 World Cup sub-station champions, and many rising "post-00" emerging forces, the competition is extremely fierce. From the qualifying round and knockout round of Yuanshen Stadium to the finals on the bank of the Huangpu River, after a week of competition, on the afternoon of April 28, the competition of all projects was settled.
The Chinese team celebrates winning the championship. Labor Daily reporter Gong Junqi photography
The Chinese team, which is playing at home, sent a lineup that combines the old and the new. Among them, the Chinese women's team composed of Li Jiaman, An Qixuan, and Yang Xiaolei played triumphantly in the recurve bow team competition all the way to the finals. Although the final was played in the rain, the three Chinese women were very accurate, leading 4-0 in the opening game. Although the South Korean team pulled back two points, at the critical moment, the Chinese girl was unrelenting, defeating the Korean team, the overlord of the archery event, 6-2 to win the championship. In the next women's recurve bow individual competition, Li Jia continued her outstanding performance and won a bronze medal.
At the critical stage of preparing for the Paris Olympic Games, the Chinese archery team, which is experiencing the replacement of the old and the new, has gained more experience and confidence through this archery World Cup to train and sharpen the team. Mu Yong, the leader of the Chinese archery team, said: "This time we sent a number of post-00 players, whose advantage is that they dare to rush and dare to fight, and their disadvantage is their lack of experience. Through high-level events such as the World Cup, with the support and encouragement of local audiences, and in the exchange and competition with international celebrities, we can further test ourselves, which not only exercises the big heart and wisdom of young athletes, but also improves the competition ability of athletes in an all-round way, which will lay a solid foundation for the Chinese archery team to impact more international competitions and compete in the Paris Olympics in the future. ”
Li Jiaman in the game. Labor Daily reporter Gong Junqi photography
This is also the first time that the Chinese women's team has won the championship of the Archery World Cup. The moment the national anthem sounded, Li Jiaman on the podium couldn't help but shed tears of excitement. "When I heard the national anthem, I felt very proud and honored that I could also win glory for the country. "At the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year, Li Jiaman won the individual bronze medal and the silver medal in the women's team, this time in Shanghai, she is the No. 1 player of the Chinese team, shouldering the heavy responsibility of stabilizing the morale of the army, she said after the game, "It is impossible not to be nervous, but we still have to slowly adjust ourselves, whether it is sunny or rainy, we have made enough difficult preparations psychologically, until the last arrow, we will never give up." ”
This match is also a very important drill before the Paris Olympics. Looking forward to this year's Paris Olympics, Li Jiaman believes that the biggest gain is to be confident in himself, "Through this competition, we also realized that everything is possible. Against a strong team like South Korea, we always fantasized about it, or said we didn't dare to win, but this time it's a good foundation, slowly, step by step, and I believe that we can succeed. ”
In addition, the rest of the events also had their own titles: India emerged as the biggest winner, winning a total of five titles in the women's compound bow team, men's compound bow team, compound bow mixed team, women's compound bow individual and men's recurve bow team. The Korean team won the recurve mixed team championship.
The head picture shows the scene of the recurve bow women's team award ceremony. Labor Daily reporter Gong Junqi photography