Big Sports Events Scheduled for Oct. 15

Sports fans will have plenty to watch Thursday, Oct. 15, with a series of major sporting events slated.

The southern city of Gwangju will host Game 1 of the Korean Series of professional baseball between the hometown team Kia Tigers, which won its first regular-season title in 12 years, and the winner of the semifinals between the Doosan Bears and SK Wyverns.

The 2009-10 professional basketball season will also open at 7 p.m. that day. Last year’s champion KCC Egis will host the Dongbu Promy in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. The game will also see former players Huh Jae (KCC) and Kang Dong-hee (Dongbu) face off as coaches for the first time.

In professional golf, this season’s top two championships in Korea will tee off Thursday: the men’s Shinhan Donghae Open and the women’s Hite Cup Championship. World-class Korean golfers will participate, including K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang for the men and Shin Ji-yai for the women.

In figure skating, superstar Kim Yu-na will compete Thursday in the first round of this year’s ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Paris.

In Major League Baseball of the U.S., two division series in the American League will have games that day.

Other big events to place before and after Oct. 15 include the election for the president of the World Taekwondo Federation Tuesday and the final of the FIFA U20 World Cup and the start of Japan`s pro baseball playoffs Friday.

kjs0123@donga.com