Match Held at Cheonghaejeon from May 14 to 15
[Wando＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Kyung-pil] The ‘62nd Jeollanam-do Sports Festival,’ a sports festival for the unity of 2 million Jeonnam residents, will be held in Wando County from May 12 to 15.
The archery competition of the 62nd Jeollanam-do Sports Festival will be held at Cheonghaejeong in Wando. [Photo by Wando-gun]
According to the county on the 23rd, the organizing committee of the 62nd Jeollanam-do Sports Festival is introducing the rules and viewing points of each sport every week so that residents and spectators can enjoy the games more.
This event, ‘Gungdo,’ is a sport that competes on how accurately one can hit a target using a bow, utilizing Korea’s traditional bow.
The equipment needed for Gungdo includes a bow, arrows, jeontong (traditional gloves), kakkji (finger tabs), and gungdae (arm guards). The important items are the bow and arrows; the bows used are gakgung (角弓, horn bows) and carbon bows, which must be certified by the Korea Archery Association.
There are various types of arrows such as Yukryangjeon (육량전), Pyeonjeon (편전), Janggunjeon (장군전), Mokjeon (목전), and Yuyeopjeon (유엽전), but currently only bamboo arrows called Juksi (죽시) can be used, and artificial mechanical devices like sights are not allowed.
The Gungdo competition of the 62nd Jeollanam-do Sports Festival will be held for two days from May 14 to 15 at Cheonghaejeong in Wando.
Each city and county team consists of 7 players who take turns shooting one arrow each, shooting a total of 5 arrows per player.
The team competition is a record-based event where the rankings are determined by the total scores of the top 5 players. There is no separate individual competition; instead, the individual 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places are decided based on the records of all players participating in the team event.
Among the 7 participating players, at least 3 must use gakgung and juksi. Cities or counties without players using gakgung and juksi can only send 4 players.
Eligibility requires being a native of Jeollanam-do and completing registration for the provincial sports festival within the designated period. Those registered as national competition players with the Jeonnam Archery Association and Jeonnam Sports Council, as well as high school athletes, are not allowed to participate. Players using gakgung and juksi are given priority in determining individual rankings.
In last year’s 61st competition, the team event winners were 1st place Goheung, 2nd place Sinan, and 3rd place Yeosu; individual winners were 1st place Suncheon, 2nd place Naju, and 3rd place Goheung. In the 58th competition in 2019, the team event winners were 1st place Sinan, 2nd place Goheung, and 3rd place Gwangyang; individual winners were 1st place Gwangyang, 2nd place Hwasun, and 3rd place Sinan.
The key point to watch in the 62nd competition is whether Goheung County will win the championship for the second consecutive time or if Sinan County, which narrowly took 2nd place behind Goheung in 2022, will reclaim the glory of winning 1st place as in 2019 by surpassing Goheung.
The Wando County Gungdo team remained in the lower-middle ranks in the last competition, but hopes to leverage the advantage of being the host and demonstrate the true spirit as descendants of Admiral Jang Bogo to enter the top ranks in the 62nd competition.
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