South Korea wins men's 25m rapid-fire pistol team gold, ending 12-year drought

South Korea's men's shooting team claimed gold in the 25m rapid-fire pistol team event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday, edging out China to end a 12-year wait for the title.

Song Jong-ho (Industrial Bank of Korea), Lee Geon-hyeok (Daegu Public Facilities Management Corporation) and Yun Seo-young (KB Kookmin Bank) combined for a total score of 1,749 points at the Toyota Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Range in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, beating China (1,740 points) by nine points. Indonesia took bronze with 1,720 points.

It is South Korea's first Asian Games gold in the men's rapid-fire pistol team event since the 2014 Incheon Games. At that competition, Kim Jun-hong, Jang Dae-gyu and Song combined for the team title, with Kim also sweeping the individual event.

The medal carries special meaning for Song, the veteran of the current squad. A member of the 2014 Incheon championship team, he stood atop the Asian Games podium again 12 years later.

South Korea had failed to add a gold medal on Wednesday, but Thursday's victory brought the delegation's total to 25 golds at the Games. It was also the shooting team's second gold of the competition.

The rapid-fire pistol team event does not hold a separate final; medals are determined by combining the individual qualification scores of each team's three members.

In qualification, each shooter fires 60 rounds in total — five shots within eight seconds, repeated four times; five shots within six seconds, repeated four times; and five shots within four seconds, repeated four times. The competition is spread over two days, with 30 shots fired each day. Unlike rifle or other pistol events, scoring uses whole numbers only, with no decimal points — a maximum of 10 points per shot.

South Korea led after the first day of qualification on Wednesday, combining for 873 points to China's 870. On the second day, Song shot 292 out of a possible 300 to extend the gap over China, while Lee contributed a strong 296. Yun, who had ranked second overall with 293 points on Wednesday, added 288 on Thursday.

In the individual qualification standings, Lee finished second overall with a combined 588 points and Yun third with 581, both advancing to the eight-man final later Thursday afternoon. The two will seek to add individual titles to their team gold.

Song also ranked fourth overall with 580 points but will not compete in the final. Under rules limiting each country to a maximum of two finalists, Lee and Yun secured South Korea's spots by virtue of their higher scores.

In the final, competitors repeatedly fire five shots within four seconds per series. Rankings are decided by a hit system in which each shot scoring 9.7 points or above counts as one point, while anything below scores zero.