The Korea Times

F1

By Jung Min-ho YEONGAM. South Jeolla Province _ Since the first F1 race at Silverstone in the United Kingdom in 1950, the goal has been one and the same: to be the fastest. The Korean Grand Prix draws drivers who are ready to push it to the limit. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso of Spain will compete with Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel. The latter’s teammate Mark Webber, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher of Germany are also revving up their beasts. Here, a crowd gathers to witness the result of the competition. Vettel, Webber set pace at Korean GP YEONGAM (Yonhap) — Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull recorded the fastest time in the second practice session for the Korean Grand Prix on Friday. Vettel, the defending world champion and the winner here last year, topped the field of 24 with a lap of 1 minute and 38.832 seconds at the day’s second practice run on the Korea International Circuit here, about 400 kilometers south of Seoul. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren- Mercedes had the fastest time in the first practice held earl

Oct 12, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Vettel wins F1 Korean Grand Prix

Sports

Alonso, Vettel set to roar at Korean GP

By Jung Min-ho The practice rounds for the third Korean Grand Prix start today ahead of Sunday’s race with the drivers’ championship boiling down to a competition between Spain’s Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and Germany’s Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Vettel claimed a second consecutive win in Japan Sunday, following victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sept. 23 to cut Alonso’s lead from 29 points to four at the top of the standings. The German took his first checkered flag of the Formula One season in Bahrain on April 22. The Spaniard currently occupies first place on 194 points. “I’ve had two good races, and I come here on a high,” Vettel said in Thursday's media conference. “I will try to use momentum to have another strong result here.” Alonso said the Yeongam competition will be fierce as always. “We’re pushing for first, and nothing changes now. We need to keep doing things we’ve done in the past,” he said. “We've been more or less competitive in the last eight to 10 races. Maybe not the fastest, but always in position to fight for the podium, and here

Oct 11, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Sports

Lee Jong-beom to join former boss at Eagles

By Jung Min-ho Former Kia Tigers star player Lee Jong-beom signed a 50 million won ($44,000) one-year-deal with the Hanwha Eagles Wednesday to become their base coach. Under new manager Kim Eung-ryong’s leadership, the 42-year-old is expected to pass on his know-how to help the players after the club finished bottom of the league. “I came to the Eagles, called by my old teacher Kim,” Lee said. “The first thing that I’m going to do is learn about the players by talking to them. Then, I will focus on passing on my knowledge and know-how to them.” This isn’t the first time Lee has worked for Kim. As a rookie with the Haitai Tigers in 1993, Kim was Lee’s manager and the team went on to win the Korea Series that year. Before joining Japan’s Chunichi Dragons in 1998, they won two more championships together with the Tigers in 1996 and 1997. Lee was one of the top players in Korean baseball. When he retired on May 26, calling time on a 34-year career, the newly-hired coach had appeared in 1,706 games. He recorded 1,797 hits, 194 home runs, 730 RBIs and 510 stolen bases f

Oct 10, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Others

Korean climber on top of world

By Jung Min-ho When 12-year-old Kim Ja-in looked up at a climbing wall for the first time, she thought it would be impossible to reach the top. A decade later in 2010, Korea celebrated her becoming the world No. 1 women’s lead sport climber. “I cannot believe where I am now. Competing with world-renowned climbers is an unbelievable experience for me,” Kim said. “I want to continue to succeed but as the sport speaks for itself, it really no longer is about competing with others. Rather, it is a battle with myself,” Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times. This year, she won the overall gold medal at last month’s Paris World Climbing Championship and took silver in the lead. She won her second International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Worldcup lead gold of the year in Atlanta on Oct. 1 following victory in Belgium in September. The 24-year-old is currently back in Seoul and training for the IFSC Worldcup that starts Oct. 12 in Xining, China. “Growing up in a family where everyone likes and enjoys climbing, it was natural for me to start climbing at an early a

Oct 9, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Sports

Lee close to becoming RBI king

By Jung Min-ho Orix Buffaloes cleanup hitter Lee Dae-ho is set to be crowned the Pacific League RBI king title in Nippon Professional Baseball. The 30-year-old Korean has 91, followed by Saitama Seibu Lions’ Takeya Nakamura, who finished his season Sunday, with 79. In his last home game against the SoftBank Hawks at the Fukuoka’s Yahoo Dome on Monday, Lee had two hits in four at-bats, adding one RBI to his tally in his team’s 3-0 victory. With the No. 3 Wily Mo Pena of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks having ended his season with 76 RBIs on the same day, it is highly unlikely for any other player to reach 91 in one game. The full season will end after the final game between the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighter and Chiba Lotte Marines Tuesday. Barring a miraculous performance from them, Lee will top the RBI standings in his first season in Japan. Along with Sho Nakata of Ham Fighters, the Korean slugger is second in the home run race with 24, but three behind Nakamura. His .286 batting average sees him ranked 10th. The former Lotte Giants player was one of the most popular figur

Oct 8, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Sports

Is it worth taxpayers’ money?

Korean F1 Grand Prix in gaping hole but organizers only talk about benefits By Jung Min-ho Organizers of the Korean Grand Prix face the monumental task of plugging a gaping hole in its bottom line and turning its finances around. With this year’s event running from Friday through Sunday, two of its main sponsors have pulled out, with the deficit estimated to reach 30 billion won ($27 million). Last year, the race lost 60 billion won. The 30 billion-won-reduction this year is not entirely explained by any added revenue. The first year saw 72.5 billion won in losses. The contract to hold the Formula One (F1) competition is until 2016 but it appears to be a toss-up whether it will make ends meet, let alone turn a profit. Of the estimated total budget of 75 billion won, the central government will take 5 billion won burden while the rest will be shouldered by the South Jeolla provincial government. All this assumes a new importance as the race is financed by taxpayers’ money. The organizing committee didn’t have any positive answers but one of its seni

Oct 7, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Sports

Son scores in Hamburg win

By Jung Min-ho Hamburg’s Son Heung-min netted his fourth goal of the season Sunday (KST) to give his team a 1-0 victory away to Greuther Furth at the Trolli Arena. The 20-year-old forward scored an impressive individual effort in the 16th minute. He burst into the opponents’ half and beat two defenders before slotting the ball past the keeper, tucking it inside the left post. With the victory, Hamburg moved to eighth in the German Bundesliga with 3 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses, joining four other teams on 10 points. The two sides struggled to carve out goal-scoring opportunities in the beginning with many passing errors. But following Son’s goal, Hamburg maintained the upper hand. Any meaningful fight back by Furth was hindered by their poor use of the ball. Hamburg came out even stronger at the beginning of the second half. Twenty minutes after the break striker Artjoms Rudnevs was one-on-one with the goalkeeper but his left-footed effort was blocked away. Son then shot powerfully from the edge of the area three minutes later but the goalkeeper was again able to b

Oct 7, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Sports

Eagles Park Chan-ho considers retirement

By Jung Min-ho Hanwha Eagles pitcher Park Chan-ho said Wednesday that he is thinking about retirement. “I didn’t come back to the domestic league to just extend my career and I’m just really glad that I had an opportunity to undergo this experience. But fans and teammates have given me the message that they want me to stay,” the 39-year-old said. “I would like to play more but at the same time, regarding injuries and other factors, I’m not sure (whether to continue). There are many things to think about.” The former Major League pitcher said that his parents also are concerned about their son and encouraged him to wrap up his career over the Chuseok holiday. When asked about a plan after his potential retirement, Park said he is interested in studying baseball management, noting, “I feel there is a strong need for further development in the administration side of the sport, not in players’ performance.” In his last game this season against the Kia Tigers, Park threw 92 pitches in 5 2/3 innings, striking out four and allowing five runs. Although his team ended up with a

Oct 4, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Sports

Curtain about to rise for playoffs

By Jung Min-ho The Lotte Giants have punched their ticket to the playoffs that start Monday, joining the Samsung Lions, SK Wyverns and Doosan Bears. The KBO’s top four teams advance to the playoffs and the defending champions, the Lions, have already made it to the best-of-seven Korean Series by clinching first place. Sweeping aside doubts, the Busan-based Giants finally snapped a five-game losing streak Tuesday, defeating the fifth-ranked Kia Tigers 10-2 to secure a slot for the first-round best-of-five series against the Bears. The Incheon-based Wyverns will face the winner from the first round after finishing second in another best-of-five series. Whoever emerges victorious will then face Samsung in the championship series. During the playoffs, the teams will have 15 innings to try and reach a result if tied through nine, _ three more from than in the regular season, before the result is ruled a draw. All games will start at 6 p.m. on weekdays and 2 p.m. on weekends. Teams with a better regular season record will play the first two games on home turf but as

Oct 3, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Sports

Chuseok offers sporting highlights

By Jung Min-ho For sports fans, there is an extra perk for the three-day Chuseok break other than family get-togethers and a big spread on the table: plenty of sporting action. As the Samsung Lions have solidified their lead atop the KBO table with 4.5 game lead, attention is increasingly drawn to which teams will take the remaining three playoff spots. With less than 10 games left, the competition between the SK Wyverns, Doosan Bears and Lotte Giants is expected to reach its conclusion over the holidays. Current runners-up SK will take on the Kia Tigers on Saturday, with a four game advantage over the Bears, who take on the LG Twins. The Wyverns have won 8 out of their last 10 outings. The Giants, just 0.5 game behind Doosan in fourth will seek to bounce back from only one win in the past ten games as of Friday morning. They will meet the fifth-placed Tigers on Sunday, when the Bears play the LG Twins. Then on Monday all the teams are in action, with matches starting at 5 p.m. on all three days. Three Korean football stars will be involved for their teams in variou

Sep 28, 2012By Jung Min-ho

Jung Min-ho

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F1

Alonso, Vettel set to roar at Korean GP

Lee Jong-beom to join former boss at Eagles

Korean climber on top of world

Lee close to becoming RBI king

Is it worth taxpayers’ money?

Son scores in Hamburg win

Eagles Park Chan-ho considers retirement

Curtain about to rise for playoffs

Chuseok offers sporting highlights

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