High Schooler Wins Snowboarding Tourney

Jeong Yeon-uk (18, Gangreung High School, Yi Seung-ju Racing Team) became the top alpine snowboarder in Korea by beating national team veteran Ji Won-deok (26, Burton) by one second in the second race of men’s final at the KTF Cup National Snowboarding Championship at the Yongpyeong Ski Resort yesterday.

Jeong was rewarded with a four million won check.

The tournament-style main round made up of the men’s top 16 and women quarterfinalists was held with two contenders racing each other in parallel lanes. Whoever finishes late in the first race gets penalized, then both players switch lanes for the second race, where the winner is decided.

In the women’s division, 29-year old veteran Yi Ju-yeon beat Kim Hyeong-ran (26, Nexen) by 0.03 second in the second race, and took home a three million won check.

Kim Gyo-jin, the national team coach who designed the course, said, “Not only the skill levels of registered athletes have improved, but hobbyists have shown big improvements as well. I would say that the future of snowboarding in Korea is bright.”

Chang Jeon jeon@donga.com