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    Korea rallies past Czechia 2-1 for opening victory

    ZAPOPAN, Mexico — Korea defeated Czechia 2-1 to open their 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico on Thursday, taking a big step toward a place in the knockout stage. Substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu netted the go-ahead goal in the 80th minute at Estadio Guadalajara in Zapopan, near Guadalajara in western Mexico, after the teams had traded a goal apiece earlier in the second half following a goalless opening half. Ladislav Krejci headed in the match's first goal for Czechia in the 59th minute before Hwang In-beom scored the equalizer eight minutes later. Hwang then assisted Oh's goal, which came a couple of minutes after a would-be Czechia goal was disallowed on an offside. This was the fourth time that Korea won their first match of a World Cup, following 2002, 2006 and 2010. Korea progressed to the knockout phase in 2002 and 2010. Korea's next Group A match will be against Mexico, one of the tournament's three co-host countries, at 7 p.m. next Thursday at Estadio Guadalajara. It will be 10 a.m. next Friday in Korea. Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0 in Mexico City in the tournament opener earlier Thursda

    3 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Korea rallies past Czechia 2-1 for opening victory
  • Sports

    World Cup opener sees Son Heung-min fever sweep Mexico stadium

    2 MIN READBy Hankookilbo
    World Cup opener sees Son Heung-min fever sweep Mexico stadium
  • Sports

    Tigers unable to come to terms with injury replacement player Rodriguez

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Tigers unable to come to terms with injury replacement player Rodriguez
  • Sports

    KT Wiz sign Allen as injury replacement for ace Boushley

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    KT Wiz sign Allen as injury replacement for ace Boushley
  • Sports

    Daytime World Cup fever grips Seoul for 1st time in 24 years

    2 MIN READBy Jung Da-hyun
    Daytime World Cup fever grips Seoul for 1st time in 24 years
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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

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Sports

Ways to help speed up your clubhead

By Kim Jeong-kyooKorea TimesGolf ColumnistThere are diverse ways to help you speed up your clubhead and hit your tee shot like a missile. You can, for instance, turn your body more on the backswing or use the ground on the downswing. Still, of supreme importance is swinging your club on a plane. Unless you swing your club on the correct path, you cannot hit your ball its full potential distance.Swing your club back on plane You cannot hit your ball as far as you want unless you swing your club on a plane. Imagine a dotted line drawn from your ball, along the club shaft and up past the handle of your club. That is your swing plane line. As you draw your club away from your ball, you need to keep your club on the same plane angle until the shaft is parallel to the ground. About waist-high, your club moves slightly above the dotted line as you swing it to the top of your backswing.To learn the correct swing plane, grip down on the shaft of a short iron, so the butt end of the club almost touches your navel. As you swing back, preserve the triangle formed by your arms and shoulders.

Jan 27, 2016
Ways to help speed up your clubhead
Sports

Koreans secure Olympic, U-23 champs final berths

South Korean players celebrate after winning their AFC U-23 Championship semifinal football match against Qatar in Doha, Wednesday (KST), 3-1. / YonhapBy John DuerdenIt was quite a night (or early on Wednesday morning Seoul time) for South Korea’s young athletes as they reached the final of the 2016 U-23 Championships after a 3-1 semifinal over host Qatar. Next, is the final against old rivals Japan.The target has already been achieved however, as by beating Qatar, these young Taeguk Warriors have booked a place at the 2016 Rio Olympics, South Korea’s eighth successive appearance. That was the major prize on offer in the Middle East but now that it is under the team’s belt, they will relish seeing if they can take the trophy against Japan in Doha this Saturday.If Shin Tae-yong’s men play as well against Japan as they did against Qatar then there is every chance the trophy will accompany them back to Seoul.Qatar saw this tournament as vital in its preparations for the 2022 World Cup which it will host. With a number of full internationals as well as players in

Jan 27, 2016
Koreans secure Olympic, U-23 champs final berths
Sports

S. Korea clinch 8th straight Olympic football berth

/YonhapSouth Korea clinched a record eighth straight Olympic men's football berth on Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over Qatar at the Asian qualification tournament.Midfielder Kwon Chang-hoon broke the 1-1 tie in the 89th minute at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha to lift South Korea to the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship and give the country one of three Asian berths at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Moon Chang-jin put the icing on the cake to make it 3-1 moments before the final whistle.This championship doubles as the Asian qualification event for the Olympics. Only the top three countries from here will compete in Brazil, and South Korea will now finish no worse than second.They will take on Japan in Saturday's final, also in Doha. Qatar have been relegated to the third-place match against Iraq for their one last chance at qualifying for the Olympics.No other country has competed in eight straight Olympic men's football tournaments. Italy qualified for seven Olympics in a row on two separate occasions, most recently from 1984 to 2008.Aft

Jan 27, 2016
S. Korea clinch 8th straight Olympic football berth
Sports

Crucial week for Lee's MLB move

Lee Dae-ho gestures after hitting a double for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks during a game against Chiba Lotte Marlins in this April 2015 photo./ Korea TimesBy Nam Hyun-wooFormer Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks slugger Lee Dae-ho’s destination, which has been up in the air this winter, is likely to be decided this week.The 33-year-old Korean first baseman/designated hitter declared free agency at the end of last season and has been seeking a Major League Baseball (MLB) team throughout the offseason.All the Korean baseball players who announced their intent for the majors this winter have seen an end to their bid ― whether through a move to the big league or a return to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Lee is the only one who attended the annual MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee, last month, but is also the only one who hasn’t found a team.With MLB’s open market being in its late stages, Lee is now training with his former KBO peers of the Lotte Giants in Arizona and is scheduled to return home Friday. It is expected that he will announce his plans on his ar

Jan 26, 2016
Crucial week for Lee's MLB move
Sports

Key players on mend for South Korea, Qatar in Olympic football qualifying tourney

Key players for both South Korea and Qatar remain on the mend as they prepare for a crucial showdown at the regional Olympic qualifying tournament here later Tuesday.South Korea could be without forward Hwang Hee-chan and Qatar could be missing left back Abdelkarim Hassan, when the two countries clash in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship in Doha.The competition is also the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Only the top three nations will get to play in Brazil and South Korea can secure their eighth consecutive Olympic berth with a victory. Qatar are trying to qualify for their first Olympics since 1992. The loser will be relegated to the third-place match, the final chance to qualify for the Summer Games.Both Hwang and Hassan suffered ankle injuries in the quarterfinals on Saturday.Hwang, a Red Bull Salzburg forward who turned 20 Tuesday, has been a key component in the South Korean offense despite not having scored a goal. Thanks to his energy and pace, he has created space and generated scoring chances

Jan 26, 2016
Sports

Pak Se-ri, Choi Kyung-ju to lead Korean Olympic golfers

Choi Kyung-juBy Nam Hyun-wooKorea’s golfing greats Choi Kyung-ju and Pak Se-ri will lead the country’s national team for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, The Korea Golf Association announced, Monday.The association, which selects the national team, held a general meeting in Seoul, Monday, and appointed Choi, an eight-time PGA Tour winner, as Olympic Men’s coach and Pak, a World Golf Hall of Famer, as the women’s coach.Choi, 46, is widely regarded as the country’s pioneer on the PGA Tour who paved the path for younger Korean golfers to have a growing contingent on the circuit. After becoming the first Korean player to earn a PGA Tour membership in 1999, he overcame various obstacles -- from the language barrier to doubts from his home -- and won the Compaq Classic of New Orleans in May 2002 and the Tampa Bay Classic four months later. In 2008, he became the first Asian to reach as high as No. 5 in world rankings.Choi’s most notable moment was his Players Championship victory in 2011, in which he defeated David Toms on the first hole of a sudden-death pla

Jan 25, 2016
Pak Se-ri, Choi Kyung-ju to lead Korean Olympic golfers
Sports

Men's curling team bags silver in first Europe tour

By Nam Hyun-wooThe nation’s men’s curling team on Monday clinched a silver medal after playing the first game of their first European tour.The Gangwon Province curling team, which also represents the country, suffered a 4-5 loss against Team Murdoch of Scotland in the hard fought final of the Curling Champions Tour (CCT) German Masters in Hamburg.The team, comprised of Kim Soo-hyuk, skip; Kim Tae-hwan, third; Park Jong-duk, second; Nam Yoon-ho, lead; and Yoo Min-hyeon, alternate, allowed a 1-3 lead to the Scots, but tied at 3-3 in the fifth end and turned over 4-3 in the seventh end. However, the two-time world champions and 2014 Sochi Olympics silver medalists achieved a perfect take-out to take the gold medal.The Koreans defeated the Scots 6-3 in a group match and rallied past Team Edin of Sweden, the reigning world and European champions and the bronze medalists at Sochi, 6-1 in the semifinals.The CCT is a series of competitions among Europe-based clubs. Along with the World Curling Federation’s Curling Championships and the World Curling Tour, the CCT is one of

Jan 25, 2016
Sports

With no MLB deal yet, free agent Lee Dae-ho set to return home Friday from U.S. training camp

South Korean free agent slugger Lee Dae-ho is scheduled to return home this week from his U.S. training camp, sources said Monday, with hopes of having a big league contract with him by then.The 33-year-old first baseman/designated hitter has been working out with his former Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club, the Lotte Giants, in Arizona this month. An official from his South Korean agency, Montis Sports Management Group, also flew to the United States with the player, working with Lee's U.S. agency, MVP Sports Group, to try to get a deal done.Lee, who bats and throws right-handed, is coming off the most productive season of his four-year career in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He had career highs of 31 home runs and 98 RBIs in 141 games for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and won the Japan Series MVP as the Hawks knocked out the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in five games for their second straight NPB title.Lee, a former KBO regular season MVP, has been trying to parlay that strong season into his first big league deal, after choosing not to resign with the Hawks by declining

Jan 25, 2016
Sports

Doosan Bears sign ex-big leaguer Nick Evans

The reigning South Korean baseball champion Doosan Bears said Monday they've signed a former major leaguer Nick Evans to a one-year deal worth US$550,000.The 29-year-old will join the 2015 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) champion at their training camp in Australia on Thursday.With the acquisition, the Bears have filled their foreign player quota. They've retained right-hander Dustin Nippert for his sixth KBO season and added right-hander Michael Bowden to the staff last November.Evans played parts of five seasons in the majors, four of them with the New York Mets, who drafted him in the fifth round in 2004.He has a lifetime batting average of .257 with 10 homers and 53 RBIs in 177 games. He spent last year with the Arizona Diamondbacks' Triple-A affiliate in Reno, and batted .310 with 17 home runs and 94 RBIs in 139 games.Evans has played first base, third base and all three outfield positions in his pro career. (Yonhap)

Jan 25, 2016
Sports

South Korea to clash with Qatar in search for Olympic football berth

South Korea will try to put their defensive headaches behind them as they take on Qatar on Tuesday in search for a berth in the Olympic men's football tournament.The semifinals showdown at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship will be 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha. It will be 1:30 a.m. Wednesday in South Korea.This competition is also the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, and only the top three nations will punch their tickets to Brazil. South Korea will qualify with a win over Qatar, but even if they lose, South Korea will get another crack in the third-place match set for Friday.The other semifinalists are Japan and Iraq.South Korea eliminated Jordan 1-0 in the quarterfinals, but they were fortunate to walk away with the victory as they experienced some serious defensive lapses in the second half.South Korea had some problems on their backline in two prep matches before the tournament and also in group stage. There will be much less margin for error against Qatar, the highest-scoring team so far with

Jan 25, 2016
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