"One of the driving forces behind Korea"s archery victory at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were the former national team members who accepted to resume the selection process after the Tokyo 2020 Games were postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their sacrifice ensured that the selection process for the Korean archery team was fair, and we were able to write the myth of the Korean archery team in Paris."

Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group and President of the Korea Archery Federation, said at a dinner event following the successful completion of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Chung named each of the archers who were selected for the national team one by one to express his gratitude for the fact that the traditional method of selecting archers based solely on performance was maintained.

 

Moon Hyung-cheol, head coach of Yecheon-gun County, who served as head coach of the Korean archery team at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and is now the chairman of the Korea Archery Federation"s Power Enhancement Committee at this year"s Games, attributes the team"s success to maintaining the existing system for selecting athletes. Moon was one of the archers who led South Korea to its first-ever gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

"I think the direction of the Korean Archery Federation, which prioritizes fairness, is what led to the overall victory," Moon said. As Chairman Jung said, it would have been difficult to expect the current results if the existing selection system had collapsed at Tokyo 2020." "I also admire the athletes who gave more than 100 percent of their abilities under tremendous pressure," Moon said. The six athletes who have endured the rigors of training to be worthy of the world"s strongest archery team deserve their gold medals."

 

The Korean Archery Association"s system of selecting athletes for the Olympics and Asian Games based solely on merit and providing them with customized training to maximize their performance didn"t happen overnight. It has been the result of repeated investments since 1985, when Chung Mong-koo, chairman emeritus of Hyundai Motor Group, took over as head of the KFA.

 

"Honorary President Chung and Chairman Chung have been supportive of our new endeavors. They encouraged us that even if we failed, it would be a good resource," explains Moon. "They invested in Korean archery because they know better than anyone that we cannot stay at the top without progress."

The Korean Archery Association"s focus on producing the best results without jockeying for position also played an important role. "Even if we make a new change because we think it"s the right answer, if we hear even the slightest negative voice from the archery community, we immediately start to make improvements. If there is a lot of talk that it"s wrong, we give up. The culture of quickly admitting outlookindiaplay mistakes and faults has also had a positive impact on the development of Korean archery."

 

The emergence of new stars at each Olympics, such as Im and An, is a huge motivator for other athletes, Moon said. "I"m sure there are many athletes who have been inspired by the fact that Im was an ordinary athlete until last year and then became a completely different athlete in a year. They know that if they are good at archery, they can become stars, so they have no choice but to work harder. Being an Olympic gold medalist doesn"t guarantee anything, so new stars will continue to be born," Moon emphasized.

 

He explained that the recent implementation of dedicated coaches in shooting and taekwondo started with archery. "In order to help athletes perform at their best, the Korean Archery Federation has been sending team coaches to the Olympics for a long time. It may not seem like a big deal, but it"s a strategy that the Korean Archery Association has thought about for a long time so that the athletes can focus on the competition."

 

Moon, who said that Korean archery will immediately begin preparations for Los Angeles 2028, said that thorough preparation is the only way to produce the best results in four years" time. "Archers around the world have leveled up," he said. There is no longer much difference between the athletes at the Olympic Games. We must have the confidence to shoot 10 points in any situation to win gold at the next Games," Moon said.

He was announced as a retired player at a relatively young age, but he"s not hanging up his boots. Jang Moon-ho (31, 195 cm) has returned to SK after a year in Japan.

The Seoul SK announced the signing of Jang Moon-ho, who was announced as a retired player on Wednesday. The contract is for one year. Jang, who signed with SK after a short break when he returned home last month, has joined the squad and has been training with the team.

The former Konkuk University forward was selected by the Goyang Orion with the first overall pick in the second round of the 2016 rookie draft and joined SK in a trade for Jang Tae-bin just before the start of the 2019-2020 season. He became eligible for free agency after the 2022-2023 season, but was unable to sign with a domestic team and was announced as a retired player, signing with the Kagawa Five Arrows of the B.League B3 (third division) to continue his career.

 

Injuries were one of the reasons why Jang didn"t receive many offers from domestic teams last year. Nagging injuries to his Achilles tendon and back limited him to averaging just 6:47 minutes in eight games in the 2022-2023 season. This led him to Japan, where he averaged 4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 46 games for Kagawa.

As he proved his health, he was inundated with offers at the end of the season. Not only in the B.League, but also in the KBL. In order for a player to return to the KBL after being  totosafeguide.com declared retired, his original team must agree. SK was another team in need of reinforcements. With no obvious reinforcements in the free agency market, SK offered Jang a contract, and his comeback was finalized after a medical test.

 

"I regained my confidence after playing a season in Japan," says Jang. "In the 2022-2023 season, I had a lot of nagging injuries and felt like I was hitting my limits, but I got out of that. I couldn"t sign a contract because of the injury, but after I went to Japan, I got checked again and my body felt better. I was preparing to sign a contract with another team in the B.League, and then SK contacted me. A year ago, I didn"t even think about coming back to the KBL, but it felt good that my family wanted me back," he said.

 

The B3 is a lower league, but the system and level is higher, according to Jang. "(Lee) went to Osaka to watch the game, but the size of the stadium and the number of spectators were different from the B.League. But just because it was the third division, it didn"t mean that the level of play was lower. It was the same with two foreign players and an Asian quarter playing together. The difference was that there were a lot of rookies compared to the first and second leagues. It was different from the lower leagues as we perceive them."

"However, the traveling distance was longer than in Korea. There were times when we traveled six hours by bullet train. We struggled when we weren"t used to playing back-to-back games on the weekends. The language problem was solved in the middle of the season. At the beginning of the season, we spoke in English, but afterward, we studied and communicated in Japanese."

 

The process of announcing his retirement, traveling to Japan, and returning to the KBL is not without precedent, but in the 2024 offseason, Jang and LG reached a new milestone. "I"ve gotten over my anxiety about my injury," said Jang. Now that I"m playing in the KBL again, I"m determined to help the team, show them what I can do, and get good results."

Heading into the All-Star break, the KBO is in the midst of a wild ride, with the standings shifting as we speak.

The Kia Tigers, who led the league from the start of the season, have faltered of late and lost the top spot, but a win against SSG pushed them back to the top of the standings, just five days after knocking LG off the top spot. LG, on the other hand, lost to Samsung by one or two points for the second consecutive day, dropping to second place and forcing a realignment.

The presence of Samsung and Doosan, who are closely chasing Kia and LG, cannot be ignored. Samsung"s recent three-game winning streak has kept it within two games of leader Kia, while fourth-place Doosan, which is tied with Samsung on points, is looking to rebound from a three-game losing streak.

 

This season"s All-Star Game will be held next month at SSG Landers Field, which means there are 19 games left before the All-Star break. Teams will need at least 10 wins to stay above .500, and those that do well will be in good shape for the second half of the season, when the race for the top spot will begin in earnest.

Looking at the race so far, there are no clear favorites or underdogs. The teams at the top of the standings are not allowed to win more than 6% of the time, and the bottom of the standings is still too close to give up at over 4%.

 

The bifurcation point is again at 5% odds. Fifth-place SSG Landers is barely holding on to a 5.508 win percentage (.508) and is three games behind fourth-place Doosan, while the totopick.pro bottom teams are clustered within two games of each other, meaning that the standings could change on a whim.

 

The top four teams will have their work cut out for them in a three-game series this weekend. Coincidentally, all four teams are facing teams from the bottom of the standings.

First up, leader KIA will take on 9th-ranked KT in Suwon. However, Kia is 4-5 against KT this season, so there is no reason to be optimistic.

LG will host Lotte. The head-to-head record is 5-1 in favor of LG. If LG can sweep the three-game series, they could regain the lead.

Third-place Samsung travels to the NC with a 3-3 record, which is evenly balanced. After fighting for the top spot in the early to mid-season, the NC has lost steam recently and Samsung will need to capitalize on that.

 

Doosan"s opponent is Kiwoom. This season, Doosan has an absolute dominance of 5-1 against Kiwoom, and they are especially confident after taking all three games away from home.

Kiwoom"s Hong Won-ki got back on the upward curve against LG. The team won again against LG, the team that gave them their first win of the season and the start of a seven-game winning streak.

Kiwoom won 6-5 against LG in Jamsil on April 16. In a batting battle that saw both teams combine for 21 hits, Kiwoom held the lead until the end. The batting lineup was led by a left-handed lineup consisting of No. 2 Ronnie Dawson, No. 3 Kim Hye-sung and No. 4 Lee Ju-hyung. The trio combined for multi-hit performances. Kim Hwijip, batting seventh in the order, also contributed with two hits and one RBI.

On the mound, starting pitcher Ariel Furado allowed four runs (three earned) in five innings. The next pitcher, Cho Sang-woo, gave up one run, but the next pitchers did not allow a run. Kim Sung-min, Kim Jae-woong, and Joo Seung-woo combined for three scoreless innings of relief. Joo earned his fourth save of the season.

With the win, Kiwoom improved to 18-24 on the season, moving from eighth to seventh place.

After the game, Hong said, “We did our part until the fifth inning against a strong offense. The bullpen totopick.pro pitched well to protect the lead in a tight one-run game,” said Hong.

He also praised the Bears" defense. “Kim Hye-sung in the first inning and Kim Hwi-jip in the third showed great defense to break up the opponent"s flow,” Hong said. “Above all, catcher Kim Jae-hyun"s performance stood out. His stolen base in the fifth inning and his catch in the seventh helped us secure the win.”

Kim Jae-hyun prevented Choi Seung-min from stealing second base in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, he caught Moon Sung-joo stealing second base and Choi Won-young at third base. Kim Jae-hyun"s defense secured the final two outs of the game.

Finally, Hong said, “I would like to thank the fans for their support in the cold weather at Jamsil Stadium. We will prepare well for the three-game series against Gocheok starting tomorrow.”

 

Kiwoom announced Heisus as the starting pitcher against SSG in Gochok on the 17th. LG, which has lost two straight games to Kiwoom, will start Im Chan-kyu against KT Suwon on the 17th. 

Kiwoom"s Hong Won-ki got back on the upward curve against LG. The team won again against LG, the team that gave them their first win of the season and the start of a seven-game winning streak.

Kiwoom won 6-5 against LG in Jamsil on April 16. In a batting battle that saw both teams combine for 21 hits, Kiwoom held the lead until the end. The batting lineup was led by a left-handed lineup consisting of No. 2 Ronnie Dawson, No. 3 Kim Hye-sung and No. 4 Lee Ju-hyung. The trio combined for multi-hit performances. Kim Hwijip, batting seventh in the order, also contributed with two hits and one RBI.

On the mound, starting pitcher Ariel Furado allowed four runs (three earned) in five innings. The next pitcher, Cho Sang-woo, gave up one run, but the next pitchers did not allow a run. Kim Sung-min, Kim Jae-woong, and Joo Seung-woo combined for three scoreless innings of relief. Joo earned his fourth save of the season.

With the win, Kiwoom improved to 18-24 on the season, moving from eighth to seventh place.

After the game, Hong said, “We did our part until the fifth inning against a strong offense. The bullpen pitched well to protect the lead in a tight totopick.pro one-run game,” said Hong.

He also praised the Bears" defense. “Kim Hye-sung in the first inning and Kim Hwi-jip in the third showed great defense to break up the opponent"s flow,” Hong said. “Above all, catcher Kim Jae-hyun"s performance stood out. His stolen base in the fifth inning and his catch in the seventh helped us secure the win.”

Kim Jae-hyun prevented Choi Seung-min from stealing second base in the bottom of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the seventh, he caught Moon Sung-joo stealing second base and Choi Won-young at third base. Kim Jae-hyun"s defense secured the final two outs of the game.

Finally, Hong said, “I would like to thank the fans for their support in the cold weather at Jamsil Stadium. We will prepare well for the three-game series against Gocheok starting tomorrow.”

 

Kiwoom announced Heisus as the starting pitcher against SSG in Gochok on the 17th. LG, which has lost two straight games to Kiwoom, will start Im Chan-kyu against KT Suwon on the 17th.