Armed Force Athletic Corps’ Park Seok-yoon Bombs LG Insure

Should they have a “military drill of the marine corps”?

It was the game of the KT&G V Tour 2004 Volleyball Incheon (the third) tour men’s A- group held at Incheon Dowon Indoors Gymnasium on January 19 between LG Insure and Korea Armed Forces Athletics Corps. LG Insure, the power company team, was totally crushed with a set score of 0-3, damaging its reputation.

Athletic Corps, armed with a military spirit, was ambitious, but LG Insure was nerveless. The expectation that LG Insure would be strongly favored due to the addition of “Big Gun” Lee Kyoung-soo turned out to be incorrect.

LG Insure almost won the first set but was defeated by the patient Athletic Corps after the seesawing deuce. LG Insure lost the first set with a 26-28 score, finished by the blocking of Shin Kyoung-soo, and allowed points by a right attacker, Park Seok-yoon, and a left attacker, Lee In-seok, at every crucial moment in the second set to be defeated 24-26.

Driven into the corner, LG Insure took a right attacker, Son Seok-beom, who was injured at his back in the second tour, off the bench on the third set. It seemed that LG Insure was restored from death, tying the score at 22-22 by a block and a spike by Lee Kyoung-soo (17points) and Kim Seong-chae (14points) and the following point of Son Seok-beom (4 points).

However, “the hero of the day” Park Seok-yoon dissipated LG’s hope away. Park succeeded a clever flipping attack as LG blockers jumped up and blocked the spike of Kim Seong-chae to increase the lead by two points.

Subsequently, with the luck of Kim Seong-chae’s striking the ball out of bounds, Athletic Corps finished the set with 25-22 and defeated LG Insure in only an hour.

Park Seok-yoon, 1m 95cm tall, led the victory with 22 points including three blocks, taking on LG Insure in which the attackers are the tallest among the company teams.

The second place team of the first and second tour, Korea Highway Corporation, topped KT&G with a score of 3-0 in the women’s league.

Sang-Ho Kim hyangsan@donga.com