KOREAN NATIONAL SPORTS FEST – Lees win again

Korea’s top stars stayed home from the pair of Grand Prix events and are spending their break between Super Series fighting for provincial glory at Suwon’s Ajou University in the annual National Sports Festival.  Chinese Taipei Open champion Yoo Yeon Seong (pictured below with partner Jung Jung Young), star of the local Suwon team, came in with plenty of zeal, but had to be content with being the only opponent to take a game from 2009 champions Lee Yong Dae / Cho Gun Woo (pictured above), playing for their home province of South Jeolla.

Story and photos: Don Hearn, Badzine Correspondent live in Suwon

The individual competition at this year’s National Sports Festival included only doubles.  North Jeolla’s Jung Jae Sung / Kang Myeong Won (pictured above) lost narrowly in the semi-final, denying a matchup between the three-time Korea Open-winning partners.  Lee Yong Dae did get to face a couple of past partners including fellow 2004 World Junior Championship runner-up Jung Jung Young and also Ko Sung Hyun.

Ko, who won back-to-back titles with Lee in the U.S. and Canada this summer, played with his middle school classmate Kwon Yi Goo (pictured below with Ko), who now partners Cho Gun Woo in international competitions.  Cho and Lee won that contest handily, though Ko gave his all, including his trademark sitting and sprawling.

Lee Hyo Jung and Kim Min Seo were able to keep the title for Busan, leaving Seoul’s Ha Jung Eun / Park Sun Young with runner-up honours for a second consecutive year.  It has been a great inaugural year so far for Gil Young Ah (pictured below), the first woman ever to assume Head Coach responsibilities of a Korean pro team.   Her players have already bagged three individual titles, two team titles and one team runner-up position as they head into the NSF team rounds with a formidable roster.

In the university division, Kim Ha Na and Yoo Hyun Young (pictured above) took their expected second consecutive title for Korea National Sports University.  In the men’s event, Kim Sa Rang – who was left off the national team in the spring even after beating the Asian Games gold medallists and reaching the German Open final in just his first few months as a doubles player – denied his former partner Kim Ki Jung a second straight title.  Sa Rang and Kim Sung Hoon (pictured below) won gold for Incheon.

Kim Ki Jung had earlier taken care of his other former partner Shin Baek Cheol (shown here with Kang Ji Wook).   The KNSU pair put on quite a show but they could not nab a second gold for Seoul.   The high school girls’ doubles final pitted four strong junior team members against one another.  Defending champion and two-time German Junior winner Lee So Hee (pictured below with parter Park So Young, right) was denied a second straight title as Busan’s Chae Yoo Jung / Lee Im Jeong eked out the 21-19, 13-21, 21-18 victory.