Smiling Samsunglife Insurance Pichumi and Hyundai Hyperion

Samsunglife Insurance Pichumi and Hyundai Hyperion got off to a good start.

At the first round of the 2002 Women’s Basketball Kookmin Bank championship summer-season playoff, in the Suwon gymnasium, Aug. 6, Samsung Insurance, which ranks first in the Women’s Korean Basketball League, pounded Shinsegae Coolcat 82-77. In the game, Lee Mi-seon (20 points) of Pichumi and other 4 players scored two-digit points, while Jeong Seon-min of Shisegae netted 24 points.

Samsung’s victory is a good sign that it could take the first place three seasons after its grabbing of the top position in the 2001 Winter League.

Meanwhile, in Cheonju, Hyundai Hyperion, with Sanford scoring 23 points and pulling down 9 rebounds, won a come-from-behind victory over Woori Bank Hansae by a game of 63 to 61.

Hyundai, which was satisfied with finishing second in four out of eight cases after the launch of women’s professional basketball league, can have hopes of first place with the victory.

The second rounds will be held in Chuncheon and Gwangju on Agu. 8.

# Samsunglife Insurance vs. Shinsegae

The success or failure of a big game depends on teamwork. In the beginning of the game, Samsung marked Jeong Seon-min, main force of Shisegae, with a strategy of maximizing the power of “best five.” To make things worse, that day, Yang Jeong-ok of Shinsegae cannot play the game with injury and the pass of the ball was not good. However, the opposite team’s play was great. With Lee Mi-seon playing vigorously, and Byeon Yeon-ha and Bark Jeong-eun producing together five 3-pointers to the second quarter, Samsung beat Shinsegae 48-38 in the first half.

In the second half of the game, when Shisegae followed close Samsung 65-66, Samsung called a time-out. After the rest of 20 seconds, Samsung recovered the strength that it showed in the first half. While inducing mistakes of the opposite team, Samsung paved the way for the victory by 72-65, with Smith, Byeon Yeon-ha and Lee Mi-seon shooting one after another.

# Hyundai vs. Woori Bank

In the first quarter, Hyundai was far behind Woori Bank, which took advantage of its tall players, by 10 to 23. However, from the second quarter, it marked the enemy by oppressive defense. In addition, when the opposite misses a pass, Hyundai players cooperated, pulling down a rebound and reducing the points gap.

Five minutes and 40 seconds before the end of the game, Hyundai took the upper hand. While breaking through the enemy’s line, Kim Young-ok was blocked by Lee Jong-ae. But Kim instantly caught an attack rebound and tried a 3-pointer. It succeeded.

When Hyundai started taking the lead 55-54, at the same time, Sanford and Kang Ji-suk succeed in middle shots giving the 59-54 victory to Hyundai.

Sang-Ho Kim Chang Jeon hyangsan@donga.com jeon@donga.com