Miracle Brought about by 600 Days of Hellish, Hard Training

“For the last two years, I have given up everything of my personal life. Now, I think I have rewards for that. I couldn’t feel happier!”

On October 1, 2002, Dongsuh University’s Stadium was engulfed in joy and cheering. For the first time in the history of South Korea’s participation in Asian Games, both of its Sepaktakraw men and women teams got medals. Players as well as their parents and staff members, who were watching the games, burst into tears of joy when it became certain, following the bronze medal won by the women’s team, that the men’s team won the gold medal. All of them were hugging each other and cried out of happiness.

Beating Taipei, from which the game takes its origin, is a miracle. But, it is not comparable at all to the devotion and commitment that Korean players and staff members have made to make their dream come true.

The circle category of Sepaktakraw, where South Korean men won the gold medal, was first introduced only 13 years ago (i.e. in 1989). For women, its history started much later: it was first introduced in 1996.

However, ever since the introduction, people would not pay much attention to it, and due to the indifference, Sepaktakraw had a hard time to settle itself down in Korea. In the world games, South Korean teams could not get over the South Asian teams, and ranked always near the bottom.

Sepaktakraw players and their supporters, facing the risk of extinction, thought that getting good results in world games would be the best shortcut to securing a wide supporting grounds for it. With this belief, they set up a “600-day” plan near the end of 2000, aiming at Busan Asian Games. Lee Young-woong (Chairman of Sunghwa Communication, Inc.), who took the chairmanship of Korea Federation of Sepaktakraw just in time for the plan, has boosted up the morale with generous supporting for them.

The main idea of the 600-day Plan, which the federation set up, was centered around the early establishment of national teams of men and women so as to, through hard training, raise their level of performing ability up to those teams of South Asian countries. Under this plan, the federation selected 24 male and female players, who in turn, entirely gave up their personal lives. They had to go through the toughest training in the world, hopping one gym to another which could accommodate them even for temporarily. It is a 101 of the training to take 4 training sessions lasting 8 hours from dawn to evening.

Twice in March and August, they went to Taipei and Singapore for 2 weeks each to learn from best teams. Half of the training cost, which could reach up to 7 million won per month was paid by the government, but the remaining half was paid by the federation.

Boosted by the supports and united as one, their performance improved day after day. Men’s team, for example, won the silver medal in the King’s Cup, which was held last year in Taipei. Again in May of this year, the team won the first place in the Asian Press Game, promising a gold medal in this Asian Games.

What the women’s team has achieved is no less valuable than what its counterpart did, considering the barren environment for it. Only 60 people are registered players. But its performance has leaped up and matches those shown by the South Asian countries’ teams, which are most powerful in the world.

National men’s team coach Chun Jae-hyung, who is the first-generation player of Sepaktakraw, said, “Sepaktakraw is the game which is just for Koreans whose food-techniques are excellent. With more support and attention to it, our teams will secure their statuses in the world.”

Sang-Ho Kim hyangsan@donga.com