‘Street Fighter V' Kim Kwan-woo, ‘Miko' Woo Hee-jun, and more in the spotlight
Kwon Soon-woo criticized for bad manners, Jung Chul-won for missing gold medal
The Korean athletes at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, which concluded its 16-day campaign with the closing ceremony on Monday (Aug. 8), have captured the nation's attention with their own stories.
Kim Hye-young, who competed for Korea in the bridge event, was the center of attention.
Kim is the wife of Hyundai Merchant Marine Chairman Chung Mong-yoon and the daughter-in-law of the late Hyundai Group Chairman Emeritus Chung Ju-young.
She took the title of chaebol's daughter-in-law and represented her country at the tournament.
She began playing bridge in 2010 and currently plays for Team Seoul. He has also been the vice president of the Korean Bridge Association for over 10 years.
A card game played by four players in two groups of two, bridge is a mind sport that requires a high level of cerebral combat. It became an official sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang.
Kim competed in the mixed event qualifiers but did not make it to the tournament. Neither the men's nor women's teams made it to the semifinals.
However, unlike the last Games, where she was unable to send an athlete, she was able to compete in all events, which is a promising sign for the future.
In archery, a medalist came out of the woodwork. Joo Jae-hoon (Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power) is one of them.
With no elite training, Joo stumbled upon archery through a club at the age of 24. He honed his skills through video footage while working, and after knocking on the door of the national team five times, he earned his place at the tournament with the Taeguk mark.
Last year, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 before the national team selection and almost gave up, but when the tournament was postponed for a year, 카지노사이트랭크 he got another chance.
He works as a petition police officer for the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Information Security Department, so he took a leave of absence from his job to attend national trials and evaluations, and with his hard work, he was able to catch a flight to Hangzhou.
Ju's miracle continued. On April 4, he teamed up with So Chae-won (Hyundai Mobis) to win a silver medal in the mixed archery compound event. The next day, he won another silver medal with Yang Jae-won (Commerce) and Kim Jong-ho (Hyundai Steel) in the men's compound archery team event.
Joo Jae-hoon was unable to win a bronze medal as he lost the individual competition against Yang Jae-won on the sixth day. But Dong Ho-in made history in Korean sports by becoming the first Korean to win an Asian Games medal.
Another standout was Street Fighter V's Kim Kwan-woo, who won gold at the age of 44.
Esports became an official sport at the Games. Of the seven sports, South Korea is represented in four: League of Legends (LoL), Battlegrounds Mobile, FC Online, and Street Fighter V.
Kim Kwan-woo became South Korea's first ever gold medalist in esports when he defeated Chinese Taipei's Hsiang-Yu Lin on March 28. Kim, who has been playing the game for more than 30 years, quit his job three years ago to become a full-time professional gamer.
Kabaddi national team member Woo Hee-joon is another example of someone who has given hope to the Korean people through the Asian Games, regardless of age or sport.
His unusual background as a former Miss Korea and Army Special Warfare Command officer brought a lot of attention to the somewhat unfamiliar sport of kabaddi.
A traditional Indian team sport, kabaddi, which means breath-holding in Hindi, is a mix of juggling and martial arts. It has been an official sport since the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.
Korea's kabaddi team failed to make it to the quarterfinals, but Woo Hee-jun reminded us of the sport's value of never giving up.
Amidst the fierce competition at the Asian Games, love blossomed for some.
Karate's Pee Jae-yoon (Korea Karate Federation), weightlifter Kim Soo-hyun (Busan City Sports Association), and “diving couple” Woo Haram (Korea Sports Promotion Agency) and Cho Eun-ji (Incheon Gwangri City Hall) garnered a lot of attention.
While Pee didn't win a medal, Kim won a bronze medal and the couple showed their support for each other, while Woo Haram won a silver medal at the Games and introduced Cho Eun-ji as his lover.
Some athletes have been in the spotlight for less than favorable stories.
Kwon Soon-woo (Dangjin City Hall), the “tennis prince,” lost to world No. 636 Kasidit Samrej (Thailand) in the second round of the men's singles event on March 25.
Immediately after the loss, Kwon lost his temper, slammed his racket on the ground, refused to shake hands with his opponent, and left the stadium.
Not only domestic fans, but also foreign media criticized Kwon's bad manners, and she eventually bowed her head in a handwritten apology.
Roller skater Chung Chul-won (Andong City Hall) became the center of controversy when he lost the gold medal he had hoped to win after performing a pre-race ceremony.
He was part of a heartbreaking upset in the men's roller skating 3000-meter relay final at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Qiantang Rollersports Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, on Feb. 2.
South Korea was in the lead late in the race when the last runner, Chung Chul-won, raised his arms in anticipation of the gold medal at the finish line, while the Chinese Taipei runner behind him stuck out his left foot and crossed the line first.
South Korea's final time was 4:05.702, just 0.01 seconds behind Chinese Taipei (4:05.692).
Chung's mistake cost his teammate Choi In-ho (Nonsan City Hall) a special exemption from military service, and Chung posted an apology on his social networking site.
Other notable players included national team ace Lee “Faker” Sang-hyuk (T1), who became the inaugural League of Legends (LoL) champion, and Kim “Legend” Hong-yeol (Hong10), whose breaching was adopted as an official sport for the first time through the tournament. 섯다
