Midfielder Kim Min-woo vies for the ball in the Olympic squad’s first game of the King’s Cup against Thailand in Bangkok, Sunday. |
By Yi Whan-woo
The Lunar New Year’s holiday will be packed with a series of sports events, from Under-23 football to basketball games, in which the athletes will bring excitement to the fans.
Olympic football
The Olympic football squad comprised of players aged under 23 is seeking to capture the King’s Cup title in Thailand.
As the leading team with one win and one draw in this four-team league-format event, Korea has one game remaining Saturday against second-placed Norway. Victory would mean the Under-23s take home the trophy, regardless of the result in the match between the host nation and Denmark.
Manager Hong Myung-bo is expected to play his strongest side in contrast to the first two games. The 42-year-old experimented with different personnel from the 23-man squad in the 3-1 win over Thailand and scoreless draw against Denmark.
Quick and skillful strikers Kim Dong-sub and Kim Hyun-sung, who spearheaded the attack once each in the previous games, are under consideration to start.
Midfielders Kim Min-woo and Seo Jung-jin are likely to be picked on the wings in support of the lone front man as in the previous two matches in what is likely to be a 4-2-3-1 formation. Baek Sung-dong of Japan’s Jubilo Iwata is in line for a role in central midfield.
The defense is likely to center around captain Hong Jeong-ho, a senior team regular along with Seo.
After this tournament, the team will resume the final phase of Olympic regional qualifiers, visiting Saudi Arabia and Oman in February before hosting Qatar in March.
Ssireum
An annual Lunar New Year sssireum tournament will take place in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province In the traditional Korean wrestling event over four days from Saturday, the athletes divided into four weight categories will flex their muscles to try and unbalance the other on the sand by using a sash tied around their wrist and thigh.
The tournament will begin with the 80-kilogram class, the lightest of the four, in which Lee Jae-an is considered one of the favorites among the 53 entrants.
The 90-kilogram title will be decided, Sunday, with Chang Jung-il a possible victor.
The 42 wrestlers in the 105-kilogram category, also named “halla” after the second-tallest mountain on the Korean Peninsula, will follow the next day.
The 31 heaviest wrestlers in the 160-kilogram class will compete at the “Baekdoo” level , the top category, in the finale on Tuesday. Lee Seul-ki, Chung Kyung-jin, and Chang Sung-bok are anticipated to form a three-horse race in this class.
Other sports
The local volleyball league will see a clash of the two top-placed clubs, the Samsung BlueFangs and the Korean Air Jumbos, on Jan. 24.
The No. 1 Samsung leads in the head-to-head record this season with two wins and one loss. But Korean Air always has thepotential to upset, as seen from the fact that each game went the full five sets. The second-ranked side also won the first meeting this year.
In the country’s baksetball league, sixth-ranked Ulsan Mobis will face top-ranked Dongbu Promy. With the season halfway through, Ulsan needs more wins. The team has a 17-22 record, just two more than SK Knights in seventh with a 15-24 record, followed by the LG Sakers with same number of victories and 25 losses.
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'한국인 성매매 정보 알려달라' 시드니 발칵
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