Samsung Women on Verge of Hoops Title

Will Samsung Bichumi win the championship or will the KB Savers stage a comeback?

Samsung won two straight matches against KB in the finals of the Women’s Korea Basketball League (WKBL) summer league, increasing their chances of winning the championship. If they win one more game out of the remaining three, they will write new history by becoming the first professional women’s basketball team to win five championships. In contrast, KB, which is aiming at winning the first championship of its team history, has been pushed to the brink.

Three WKBL teams have won the championship four times. They are Samsung, Shinsegae Cool Cats, and Woori Bank Hansae.

Samsung won the championship in the summer league of 1998, the first year the WKBL came into existence, and after winning the 2001 winter league, it has since not tasted victory. During five seasons since the summer of 2002, it ended short of victory by placing second place, and last year it even failed to advance to the finals. During that time, it failed to live up to its tradition of being a women’s basketball dynasty.

Nevertheless, they have changed this year. Lee Jong-ae, talented in blocking shots, and Belgian national Wauters were added to the roster, and the team’s record improved drastically. Park Jung-eun and Byun Yeon-hwa, who both attended Dongju Girls Commercial High School, are becoming an impressive duo difficult to defend. In the second game against KB Saver, held on July 22, the duo combined for 30 points and led their team to victory.

KB Savers are falling behind late in games. In the second game, the game was tight until the end of the fourth quarter, but KB Savers allowed 10 unanswered points with about three minutes remaining, and lost 54 to 64. It is sad to see Jung Sun-min, 32, who played marvelously in the playoff matches against Shinhan Bank, running out of energy. However, KB Saver did not place first place during regular season for no reason. If the twin towers Jung and Stepanova play their share, and if their three-point shooting, which went 2-11 at the second game, comes back on track, a dramatic comeback is not at all impossible.

Game Three will be played on July 24 at Yongin Gymnasium.

Seung-Kun Lee why@donga.com