The table tennis team of the Korea Horse Association (Chairman Jeong Ki-hwan) recruited two new dark horses last month. The main characters are Kang Dong-soo from Mirae Asset Securities and Choi Hyo-joo from Samsung Life Insurance.
The two players are expected to join the men’s table tennis team led by Choi Young-il and the women’s table tennis team led by Hyun Jung-hwa, respectively, to further strengthen the Korean Horse Association.
Kang Dong-soo is a defensive player. He challenged last year’s ‘WTT Perulima Contender’ singles, defeating many foreign powerhouses, including world No. He has grown into a player with foreign competitiveness, including . He is further polishing his skills based on his strong endurance, as is typical of his defense.
Choi Hyo-joo, 24 years old, is a Chinese naturalized player (naturalized in 2014). At the age of just 15, he joined the Samsung Life Insurance table tennis team and led his team to the championship. He also has spectacular results in international competitions, such as a bronze medal in the team event at the 2018 Palembang Asian Games and second place in the team event at the 2021 Qatar Asian Championships. He continued his good performance this year by winning second place in the singles at the ‘WTT Oman Contender’ and second in the doubles at the ‘Feeder European’. Choi, who is strong in the doubles game because of his excellent teamwork as well as his excellent individual skills, is attracting attention as a promising player to succeed Seo Hyo-won, the leading star of the Korean Racing Association.
The two players still have young faces, but you can feel the skills and aura of veterans. Each of them had a deep relationship with the Korean Racing Association, and this was one of the reasons why they decided to start anew in the Korean Racing Association. The following is the full text of the interview through the Korean Racing Association.
▲ ‘Out-of-stock man’ Kang Dong-soo, thanks to his wife, has a relationship with the
horse society Dong-soo Kang is still a young 28-year-old, but he got married the year before last and became a ‘out-of-stock man’. His wife is a former member of the table tennis team of the Korean Racing Association, and is said to have been the decisive reason for his decision to transfer to the Korean Racing Association. Although he had a good record of 3rd place in the international competition last year, Kang, who does not lose his humility and says that the future is more important, is expected to play an active role in the future.
– What motivated you to transfer this time?
I knew my teammates well because I was in the senior and junior positions in the Armed Forces Sports Corps, and I felt that I could do better considering the good team atmosphere and the coaches’ guiding philosophies. Also, since his wife used to be a member of the table tennis team of the Horse Association, she already knew the team and the company well, and it was great that she told me a lot of good things.
– Last year at the WTT Contender Lima 2022, you competed against foreign players and got a valuable result of 3rd place. How do you feel?
It’s been a long time since I went to an international tournament, and there were many strong opponents, but I’m always more confident in international matches. I was very excited, but I had fun playing the game, and I am happy that it led to a good result. But I think it’s important to do better in the future. Anyone can do it once, but I think the more important thing is to maintain your skills consistently. I will not be satisfied here and will work harder so that I can work harder in the future.
-How do you control your own mind or manage stress?
Rather than thinking right now, I think a lot of ‘Let’s look further ahead’. No player can win every day. I often get stressed out when I lose, but I often suggest to myself that the chances of me winning next time will be higher. Then, even if you lose, you can quickly forget your negative emotions and prepare hard again. When I am under a lot of stress, I relieve stress by going to a cafe with my wife and talking.
– Do you have a role model?
I like soccer player messi. Even though I am not in the right physical condition for soccer, I feel that I have put in a lot of effort to overcome my own shortcomings. Looking at Messi, I think a lot that I have to work hard and do well in whatever I do without making excuses in any situation.
– Commitment to the new team, what are your goals for the future?
I am very happy to be a member of the Horse Society. As always, I will do my best in every game and every moment. My future goal is to start and participate in bigger stages such as the Asian Games, world competitions, and the Olympics.
▲ Choi Hyo-joo, the ‘youngest naturalized’, has spicy taste skills, but when it’s hard, “spicy taste”
Choi Hyo-joo came to Korea for table tennis training at the age of 13, about 10 years ago. He became a naturalized Korean citizen in 2014. In the process, she has a close relationship with director Choi Young-il’s family, to the extent that Choi Young-il’s older brother adopted her Choi Hyo-joo.
Based on this support, Choi Hyo-joo quickly improved her skills in Korea and surprised the world table tennis world by lifting the championship at the age of 17 by defeating leading candidates at the time at the 2015 Croatia Open singles. He joined the team at a young age and has been active as an ace of Samsung Life Insurance for nearly 10 years. Hear about his feelings about moving to the Korean Racing Association and his future goals.
-I heard that you are the youngest naturalized table tennis player. It must not have been easy to be active in a foreign country from a young age?
When I first came to Korea, I came with a lot of expectations, but at the time, my teammates took care of me a lot, and the coach and manager helped me a lot, so I was able to quickly adapt to life in Korea.
– What motivated you to transfer to the horse society this time?
I had a personal acquaintance with Seo Hyo-won, so I knew the horse society well, but I thought the coaching philosophy and the team atmosphere were good. More than anything, he decided to transfer because he wanted to grow a little more with a new goal in a new environment.
-How do you control your own mind or manage stress?
When I’m stressed, I relieve stress with spicy food, and I especially like chicken feet, intestines, and malatang. Besides table tennis, he enjoys mountain climbing. 메이저사이트
– Do you have a role model?
I like soccer player messi. He grew up to be the best player in his field despite unfavorable conditions such as a difficult family environment and physical disadvantages. And he’s known for being a very family husband and father, and I think it’s really cool how he values his family without being immersed in work.
– Commitment to the new team, what are your goals for the future?
My goal is to follow the guidance of Coach Hyun Jung-hwa, Coach Park Sang-joon, and Coach Bok-rae Kim in the new team racing society and enter the world rankings in the 30th to 40th place. In the future, I will try harder and show improvement. We ask for your support.
Meanwhile, the Korean Racing Association table tennis team, which was completed with the joining of two table tennis prospects, is participating in the ‘2023 Dunamu Korean Professional Table Tennis League’, which opened on December 2nd, and will also sortie for the Asian qualifiers for the World Championships and WTT international competitions from this month.