Shin Young-chul Made His Head Coaching Debut “It’s Beyond My Control”

It was the debut game since being appointed as the new head coach a week ago. There were many things to do for the rookie head coach.

The match between LG Insurance and Korean Air was held at Choong-moo Gymnasium in Daejeon on February 25 as part of the Daejeon (5th) Tour of KT&G V Tour 2004. Shin Young-chul, head coach of LG Insurance and dressed in black suit, incessantly directed to his players while standing close to the court during the match. Shin said, “I will not just sit on the bench and keep step with the players.”

Head coach Shin, who thought it would be a long shot if Lee Kyung-soo’s attack was blocked, inserted setter Sohn Jang-hoon, who was a Hanyang University junior student, instead of the regular setter, Hwang Won-sik. Also, Shin put in Lee Dong-hoon, good defensively, as the left wing player along with Lee Kyung-soo who concentrated on attacking without worrying about defending. Putting the normal right attacker King Sung-chae in left was also for beefing up the defense.

However, the match went the wrong way from the beginning and not how Shin had planned. The players didn’t attack swiftly and defended helplessly due to their changed positions. Lee Kyung-soo, who has a 32 percent success rate in attacks, didn’t live up to the expectations. LG Insurance got subdued 0-3.

Mistakes, which the rookie head coach made, were followed one after another. Under a losing situation, 15-21 at the first set, he broke the substitution time and received a warning. He also made the same mistake in the middle of second set and received a second warning, costing his team a point. Indeed, he had a severe debut.

Though he suffered a complete defeat, his face beamed. Head coach Shin, with a bright face, said at the interview, “I ordered my players to raise their heads if they did their best even if we lost. I am satisfied with the possibilities today.” He will play former team Samsung Fire on February 26.

▽Male Section A Group

Korean Air 3-0 LG Insurance

(1 wins 1 loses) (1 loses)

▽Female Section

Korea Highway Construction 3-0 Hungkuk Life Insurance

(1 wins 1 loses) (2 loses)

13. Six Nations Join Hands to Settle NK’s Nuclear Issue

“Will it be settled this time?’ The second six-party talks to discuss North Korea’s nuclear matter opened at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China. Delegates, including James Kelly, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State (left) and Kim Gye-gwan, North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister (third from the left), joined hands.

hyangsan@donga.com