Hanwha Group kicked off its national shooting competition on Tuesday in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.
The seven-day long Chairman’s Cup National Shooting Championship is the last time the national shooting squad will be able to pit their skills in a major meet before the London 2012 Olympic Games.
As one of five major shooting events in Korea, it will host 2,500 shooters from 370 teams including 13 national-team shooters. The event is being held at the future venue for the 2018 World Shooting Championships, the Changwon Shooting Park.
Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-youn
Among those competing are medal-favorites like Jin Jong-oh and Kim Jang-mi in the pistol, and Han Jin-seop and Kim Jong-hyun in the rifle. Jin won gold in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
On the first day, Jin fired 95.6 points in the men’s individual 50-meter pistol final round for a combined score of 660.2 points and won the gold medal. In the women’s 25-meter pistol, Kim Jang-mi bagged two golds, one in individual and the other in team category. Na Yoon-kyung of the Olympic squad also won in the women’s individual 10-meter air rifle.
The shooting competition also doubles as the third round of qualifiers for the 2013 national squad.
The competition is seen as a great way for Korean shooters to brush up their skills as it offers them the best competitive conditions in the country. The event is the only one to offer electronic target systems for all categories.
The Olympics and other major international shooting competitions employ electronic target systems that are three times more expensive than traditionally-used paper.
The Hanwha Chairman’s Cup was the first domestic shooting competition sponsored by a private enterprise in 2008 under the guidance of Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-youn. It was meant to promote one of country’s less popular sports. In the same vein, Hanwha also formed its own Galleria Shooting Team to nurture domestic talent for international sporting events.
Hanwha has been particularly active in fostering the sport within the country, donating some 8 billion won ($6.8 million) to support the local training environment.
The business group has also sponsored six World Cup shooting meets in Changwon from 2003.
By Robert Lee (robert@heraldm.com)
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
