India's recurve programme may soon have one of the most decorated coaches in world archery at its helm. The Archery Association of India is reported to be close to appointing Park Chae-soon, the 61-year-old Korean who guided Korea's women to gold at London 2012, the men at Rio 2016, and served as overall head coach of the Korean team for the Tokyo Olympics.
Park's club record is just as striking: across nearly two decades running the Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall programme (2003–2021), his archers collected a reported 573 medals, 173 of them international.
According to reporting by The Bridge, the AAI conducted a lengthy video interview with Park that was received positively, and the appointment would take effect after the 2026 Asian Games — likely from November — with a contract running through the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and openness on both sides to an extension towards Brisbane 2032.
The recruitment follows the departure of Baek Woong Ki after the Paris Olympics and an earlier round of talks with Kisik Lee that reportedly broke down over salary. India's recurve archers have shown world-beating form in stretches this season; sustained podium finishes at the Games level is the gap a coach of Park's pedigree would be asked to close.
Any structural lift to the national recurve programme flows directly down the pathway to state units like ours — stronger camps, clearer technical standards, and more competitive benchmarks for Punjab's junior archers.
Source & further reading: The Bridge — Legendary coach Park Chae-soon likely to lead India's recurve team (5 July 2026).
Featured photo: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
