‘Volleyball Emperor’ Kim Yeon-kyung (35), and Kim Yeon-kyung’s old teacher and world-renowned coach Abon Danza (53), are very likely to reunite in the Korean V-League. This was unimaginable even before the start of this season.
As many domestic and foreign media have already reported, the Heungkuk Life Insurance club has been negotiating the recruitment of Abondanza, the manager of the Turkish Airlines (THY) team in the Turkish league. Turkish Airlines is a strong team that is running 4th out of 14 teams in the Turkish league this season.
And the last stumbling block in the negotiations, director Abondanza and Turkish Airlines’ ‘contract termination’ process, was completed. On the night of the 16th (Korean time), Turkish Airlines posted a post saying ‘Goodbye and thanks to Abondanza’ through the club’s SNS. The contract between director Abondanza and Heungkuk Life Insurance and the process of entering Korea are expected to proceed quickly.
Volleyball fans also welcomed the news of the recruitment negotiations for manager Abondanza, and hoped that it would be concluded as soon as possible. For several reasons. Coach Abondanza himself is a master with numerous victories in overseas big leagues. There is also a special relationship with Kim Yeon-kyung. The situation of the Heungkuk Life Insurance team has been struggling with the acting system of the acting manager for over a month and a half. At this point, coach Abondanza is the best card.
Among the directors of Abondanza, who have been together for the longest time during Kim Yeon-kyung’s heyday,
the special relationship between Kim Yeon-kyung and Abondanza is drawing the most attention. Director Abondanza has been with Kim Yeon-kyung for the longest time during his prime, and even produced splendid results.
For four seasons from the 2013-2014 season to the 2016-2017 season, coach Abondanza worked with Kim Yeon-kyung on the Fenerbahce team of the Turkish league, the world’s best women’s volleyball league. She also achieved two gold medals, winning both the Turkish League and the Turkish Cup twice in the 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 seasons. She also won the Turkish league championship or runner-up in all four seasons. In particular, the process of winning the Turkish league in the 2016-2017 season was an unforgettable drama for Kim Yeon-kyung and her volleyball fans. In the 2013-2014 season she also achieved the European Cup (CEV Cup) title.
Kim Yeon-kyung also enjoyed her peak by personally winning MVP, top scorer, and offensive awards in various competitions. During the four seasons led by the combination of Abondanza and Kim Yeon-kyung, Fenerbahce was truly in its golden age.
Fans who were expecting a lot of ‘Which team should I go to during FA’… Group Mental Disorder
By the way, the moment the anticipation of seeing the Kim Yeon-kyung-Abon Danza combination in the domestic V-League grew, shocking news was delivered to volleyball fans.
It was the news of Kim Yeon-kyung’s ‘retirement review’. It also came on the 15th, right after the affiliated team, Heungkuk Life Insurance, beat Hyundai E&C, the absolute powerhouse this season, and took first place in the regular league in 106 days.
Kim Yeon-kyung led the team to a 3-0 victory, recording the most points in the team, 63.3% in both attack success rate and attack efficiency. Even in the third set, he scored 9 points alone, writing a phenomenal record of 100% in both attack success rate and attack efficiency.
However, in a media interview right after the game, Kim Yeon-kyung said for the first time this season, “I am thinking about retiring as a player. I will make a final decision within this season.” “I’m 36 years old this year at our age. I’ve always thought that it’s good to put it down when I’m in the highest position. If I decide to retire, that premise will be laid. However, nothing has been decided yet,” he explained.
Fans have fully sympathized with Kim Yeon-kyung’s idea of ’going down while at the top’. However, on sites where women’s volleyball fans are gathered, lamentations mixed with great regret and despair are pouring out, saying, “Why is that now?” and “I am not ready to let go at all.”
This is because volleyball experts and fans believe that Kim Yeon-kyung’s skills are still at the top, and she will continue to be at the top of any team for at least two years.
In fact, the person who proved that point was Kim Yeon-kyung herself. The team’s performance and personal records he leads are living witnesses. It was also a series of events like a movie. Even the screenwriters are criticized for writing unrealistic stories like that.
‘At least two years’ is a possibility of normality… Kim Yeon-kyung himself proved it, and
his Heungkuk Life Insurance regained first place in the regular league at the end of the season on the 15th. It was a surprising reversal from the bottom 6th place team last season. There is an evaluation that Hyundai E&C, which was an absolute powerhouse, has been sluggish recently due to line injuries of key players, but looking back, Heungkuk Life Insurance also suffered more severe storms throughout this season.
In fact, it was embroiled in a big controversy every time it lost meaninglessly due to problems with setter toss, player selection, and rotation. Then, on January 2nd, the worst incident in the history of the V-League occurred, such as the sudden dismissal of coach Kwon Soon-chan and the controversy over the order (order) for appointing players from the club’s high-ranking officials. And still, for more than a month and a half, the skit where the ‘Acting Manager’s Acting’ directs the team continues without a coach. It was a situation that was highly likely to collapse to the point of giving up the season, let alone compete for the championship.
However, Heungkuk Life Insurance overcame the difficulties by uniting the entire team, centering on veterans such as Kim Yeon-kyung and Kim Hae-ran. Acting coach Kim Dae-kyung (36) also achieved great results through bold changes in player selection and rotation while actively communicating with the players. The result is the recapture of the regular league 1st place.
In particular, Kim Yeon-kyung clearly proved his evaluation as the world’s best complete player in terms of his personal records this season. As of the 18th, among all wing strikers (outside heaters and opponents) in V-League women’s volleyball, including foreign players, the attack efficiency is overwhelmingly 1st with 37.8%. ‘Attack efficiency’ is a key indicator for evaluating the team contribution and stalling of an attacker.
In addition, it is running first in the attack success rate category with 46.02%. The difference between the 2nd place is huge. The time difference attack category is also ranked first. In defense, he played an active role as a libero, ranking 6th in serve receiving and 9th in dig. And during the game, whenever fellow players are shaken, they are demonstrating excellent leadership by holding the center and leading them. In all respects, this proves why Kim Yeon-kyung is still the world’s top-notch world class. 카지노
The best box office maker of all time.. The hottest and most touching season
Kim Yeon-kyung also proved his absolute presence in terms of box office success in the V-League. This season, women’s volleyball is writing an all-time box office record thanks to the ‘Kim Yeon-kyung Syndrome’ and tremendous ticket power.
Heungkuk Life Insurance’s ‘sold out frenzy’ continues regardless of weekdays and weekends, metropolitan areas and provinces. So far this season, there have been 15 cases where tickets have been sold out for all women’s volleyball games. Among them, except for one game, 14 were Heungkuk Life Insurance matches. The Heungkuk Life Insurance match was reminiscent of the ‘Kim Yeon-kyung National Tour Concert’. In the aftermath of this season, women’s volleyball is highly likely to exceed 300,000 spectators for the first time in the history of the V-League. Also, compared to the 2019-2020 season, before the outbreak of Corona 19, the average number of spectators actually increased.
Heungkuk Life Insurance is also sweeping the top cable TV ratings for V-League games across men’s and women’s volleyball. For this reason, if Kim Yeon-kyung, the ‘V-League’s best ever box office maker’, actually retires, it is possible to guess what the V-League will be like next season.
For those and other reasons, fans never thought that Kim Yeon-kyung would be contemplating her retirement at this point. Most fans have been arguing with great anticipation, anticipating which team Kim Yeon-kyung will go to during the FA (free agent) to be held in April.
However, whether or not to retire is entirely a matter of Kim Yeon-kyung’s own decision. Because he may have his own life plan.
In the case of Kim Yeon-kyung, salary is not a key factor in deciding whether or not to retire, but the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) V-League annual salary limit regulation is also a factor that makes Kim Yeon-kyung more difficult to catch. At the end of this season, the free agent acquired for the first time is not an attractive point for Kim Yeon-kyung. It is because of the FA system that has become useless for first-class players due to various regulatory devices, including the ‘limit on the maximum annual salary per player (currently 700 million won)’, which is not in men’s volleyball but only in women’s volleyball. Rather, it is said that it is much more advantageous physically and financially to freely appear in broadcast programs and CF advertisements after retirement.
Whatever decision Kim Yeon-kyung makes, the fans will respect it. Nevertheless, the fans’ desire to see Kim Yeon-kyung’s game for another 1-2 years continues to this day.
Kim Yeon-kyung’s return to the V-League, Heungkuk Life Insurance’s head coach Kwon Soon-chan’s resignation, and other unprecedented incidents occurred. Even in such a situation, fans’ passionate support for the players and the wave of ‘Happy Volleyball Clapper’ impressed, Heungkuk Life’s recapture of first place at the end of the season, Kim Yeon-kyung and Abon Dan Dan’s reunion in the V-League, and Kim Yeon-kyung’s worries about retirement.
It is certain that the 2022-2023 season V-League, like a movie, will be remembered as the hottest and heartbreaking season for players and fans.