Tragedy strikes southern badminton community

For the second time in eight years, accidental death has afflicted the badminton community of Korea’s South Gyeongsang Province.  The head coach of the Miryang City Hall Badminton Team perished in a river accident last week at age 46.  Coach Kim moved to Miryang in the early 90s to help with the establishment of the boys’ badminton programme in the city to complement the long-running girls’ programme in nearby Masan.  Kim began coaching at Miryang High School, where future Olympic medallists Shon Seung Mo, Lee Jae Jin, and Hwang Ji Man were all under his tutelage.

Coach Kim became the head coach of the Miryang City Hall Team on its founding in 2001 and coached the team to 7 national team titles, along with numerous individual titles, many of them from Shon and Lee, who returned to play for their hometown team.  Kim has taken his team overseas nearly every year to participate in International Challenge and Series events in Singapore and Surabaya.

In 2005, it was Masan that was mourning the death of a young high school badminton player, who perished in a traffic accident while participating in a junior tournament in Singapore.