National shooter Seo Huntae on Oct. 19 celebrates after winning the gold medal in the mixed 10-m air rifle standing SH2 event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games at Aichi Prefectural Shooting Range in Toyota, Japan. (Korea Paralympic Committee)

By Oh Jung Eun

The national team on Oct. 19 got off to a strong start with three gold medals on opening day of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games in Japan.

Shooter Seo Huntae led the charge, winning the 10-m air rifle standing SH2 final at Aichi Prefectural Shooting Range in Japan with 254.6 points, setting an Asiad and Asian record.

A bronze medalist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Seo snagged the gold at his first Asian Para Games.

Korea added two more golds through cycling. Kim Jung-been and pilot Yoon Jung-heon won the men's B 4,000-m individual pursuit at Izu Velodrome in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture. The duo had claimed three golds at the 2023 tournament in Hangzhou, China, sweeping the 4,000-m individual pursuit, 18.5-km individual time trial and 69-km road race.

Park Hyun-mi and pilot Kim Chae-yeon set an Para Asiad record in winning the women's B 4,000-m individual pursuit.

Para cycling uses a two-person tandem bicycle on which a sighted pilot steers from the front and a visually impaired cyclist pedals from behind.

Korea on Oct. 19 opened the competition sixth in the overall medal standings with three gold, three silver and five bronze. China led in gold medals with 26, followed by Japan with eight and Uzbekistan six.

cloveroh@korea.kr