In the 2022-23 V-League men’s spring volleyball, the performance of a prospect born in 1999 called ’99’ and the fight for pride raise expectations.
The V-League, which ended the regular season with Korean Air (men’s division) and Heungkuk Life Insurance (women’s division) in first place, started a semi-playoff match between Woori Card (3rd place) and KEPCO (4th place) held at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul on the 22nd. Enter the postseason (PS) schedule. The women’s division kicks off with a playoff (PO) between Hyundai Engineering & Construction (2nd place) and Korea Expressway Corporation (3rd place) on the 23rd.
In the V-League, the women’s division has overtaken the men’s in recent years. With excellent results in international competitions and star players such as Kim Yeon-kyung (Heungkuk Life Insurance), it showed superiority in both crowd mobilization and viewership ratings.
’99s’ is considered to be the leader in the recovery of men’s volleyball popularity. Lim Dong-hyuk (Korean Air), Kim Ji-han (Woori Card), and Lim Seong-jin (KEPCO, Lee Sang, 24) have both looks and skills. Im Dong-hyuk and Kim Ji-han are rookies who received attention from an early age enough to challenge themselves to become pros right after graduating from high school. Lim Seong-jin also participated in the draft while attending Sungkyunkwan University.
Im Dong-hyuk recorded 278 points and 56.59% attack success rate this season while playing as a backup for foreign players due to the nature of the apositive spiker (right) position. Kim Ji-han, who scored a total of 103 points until last season, scored 301 points this season alone. He won the KOVO Cup Rising Star Award and won the Triple Crown once. Im Seong-jin scored the most of the three with 306 points, and did a good job with the dirty work, ranking 8th in defense and receiving.
All three are close friends. Lim Dong-hyuk and Lim Seong-jin attended Uirim Elementary School, Jecheon Middle School, and Jecheon Industrial High School together. Lim Seong-jin and Kim Ji-han were roommates during the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) days. Kim Ji-han, who joined Hyundai Capital in 2017, worked for Woori Card from November 2020 to September last year. On January 10th, in the Woori Card-Korea Electric Power Exhibition, each of them took two sub-aces from each other. In particular, Kim Ji-han announced the direction to ‘best friend’ Lim Seong-jin, scored a goal with a powerful serve spike, and induced the crowd to shout with a big ceremony. 바카라사이트
Lim Seong-jin said, “I’ve known Ji-han since I was young. We had good serve skills so we couldn’t catch each other. It was never a go-stop that we made and played.” I wonder if it will increase in popularity,” he laughed. Lim Dong-hyuk said, “Sung-jin is good at volleyball, has a nice personality, and above all, is handsome. During our 14-year relationship, we have never fought.”
All three shout victory. Lim Dong-hyeok of Korean Air, who went directly to the championship match, declared war on Lim Seong-jin before Media Day, saying, “I want to see you frustrated in the championship match.” Kim Ji-han of Woori Card, who placed third, said, “If we beat KEPCO (by beating Hyundai Capital in the playoffs), we will advance to the championship and show a good performance. We are wary of KEPCO.” Lim Seong-jin said, “Last year in the regular league, we lost all 6 matches to Woori Card, but we defeated them 3-1 in the semi-PO.
Heo Soo-bong (25) of Hyundai Capital, who is one year older than them, said, “(Former) Madman may lose power due to his departure from injury, but he is overcoming it with one mind. Now that we’ve done it, I hope our card comes up. I hope it comes up after a full set.”