Seyoung Ahn. Photo = Getty Images Korea
Even on New Year’s Day in the Year of the Cat, sports continue to welcome fans. During the Lunar New Year holiday, which will last from the 21st to the 24th, various events are expected to exude a holiday atmosphere. Let’s take a look at the major games by event that will decorate the nation’s biggest holiday Lunar New Year.
●Hide the ‘Lord of the Sands’ on New Year’s Day!
The 2023 New Year’s Day Business Ssireum Competition will be held from the 19th to the 24th at Yeongam Gymnasium in Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do. About 270 players will participate in three events, including the men’s division by weight category, the women’s division by weight category, and the women’s team event. On the 20th, the day before the Lunar New Year holidays, the women’s individual and team finals will be held. Then, from the 21st to the 24th, Taebaek Jangsa (80kg or less) ~ Geumgang Jangsa (90kg or less) ~ Halla Jangsa (105kg or less) ~ Baekdu Jangsa (140kg or less) will be held one after another. All matches are played as a tournament, and from the preliminaries to the semi-finals, the best-of-three system is played, and the final match is a best-of-five system. Attention is focusing on whether Lim Tae-hyeok and Moon Jun-seok (above, Suwon City Hall), who are aiming for three consecutive wins in the Geumgang class and two consecutive wins in the Taebaek class, will be able to climb the flower palanquin once again.
● Will there be a rebellion at the ‘Green Table’?
The Korea Professional Table Tennis League (KTTL) resumes on the 20th after a break following the World Table Tennis Championships Asia Preliminary and the National Men’s and Women’s Table Tennis Championships. The big match during the holiday season is the Korea League men’s match between Mirae Asset Securities and Korea Exchange (KRX), which will be held at Suwon Studio T at 3:00 pm on the 22nd. Mirae Asset Securities, led by general manager Kim Taek-soo and director Oh Sang-eun, is called the ‘Avengers of table tennis’ because of its large number of national-level young guns such as Woo Hyung-gyu, Oh Jun-seong, Park Kyu-hyun, and Jang Seong-il. KRX, a new team led by coach Nam-gyu Yoo, also has outstanding resources such as national team members Ahn Jae-hyun and Hwang Min-ha, so attention is focused on confrontation with Mirae Asset Securities.
Meanwhile, 10 national male and female players who competed in the Asian preliminary round for the World Championships will participate in the WTT Contender Doha until the 21st. In addition to them, Kang Dong-soo (Korea Racing Association) and Joo Chun-hee (Samsung Life Insurance) in the women’s team will go on a fast.
●’Shuttlecock Star’ Ahn Se-young is out!
Ahn Se-yeong (Samsung Life Insurance), ranked 4th in the world in badminton women’s singles, was unfortunately defeated by archrival Akane Yamaguchi (Japan, 1st) in the final of the Malaysia Open, the first tournament of the year. However, she did not even have time to lower her head, she went straight to the Yonex India Open and started the women’s singles from the 18th (Korean time). Kim So-young (Incheon International Airport) – Gong Hee-yong (Jeonbuk Bank), Jung Na-eun (Hwasun-gun Office) – Kim Hye-jeong (Samsung Life Insurance), and Lee So-hee – Shin Seung-chan (Incheon International Airport) in women’s doubles also challenge the golden smash. The semi-finals for each event will be held on the 21st and the finals on the 22nd. In women’s singles and doubles, there is a high possibility of achieving good results within the quarterfinals.
Reporter Jaemin Kwon [email protected] See more articles by reporter
