National Coach Choi Yoon-ah’s ambition is to promote Japanese basketball, a sport that he believes can be achieved by the Japanese people.
South Korea’s women’s basketball and volleyball teams revived their pride after being on the brink of no medals.
The hero was the South Korean women’s basketball team, led by head coach Chung Sun-min and coach Choi Yoon-ah.
The Korean women’s basketball team finished with a bronze medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.
Behind strong performances from Park Ji-soo (KB Bank) and Kim Dan-bi (Woori Bank), Korea won the bronze medal with a 93-63 victory over North Korea in the bronze medal game at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, at 5:00 p.m. (ET) today.
This is the fourth consecutive Asian Games medal for the Korean women’s basketball team.
After winning silver in Guangzhou 2010, 먹튀검증 gold in Incheon 2014, and silver as a single team in Jakarta-Palembang 2018, the women’s basketball team finally won a gritty bronze medal in Hangzhou.
The women’s basketball team’s bronze medal was the icing on the cake for the men’s basketball team’s downfall.
After the game, we caught up with Coach Choi Yoon-ah, who is one of the people who has revived the pride of the sport and has turned her passion into coaching.
Choi Yun-ah is a retired Korean basketball player who has been a top field general and assistant to national team coach Chung Sun-min.
Choi joined the Hyundai Women’s Basketball Team in 2004 and was a top guard for Shinhan Bank for 13 years.
She led Shinhan Bank to a combined six consecutive titles and seven championships. In 2009, she was named the Star of the Stars MVP.
Coach Choi’s passion for coaching continued today as she gave a one-on-one lesson to Lee So-hee, who was a game-changer in the middle of the game.
Lee So-hee, the “next ace of women’s basketball” who “perks up” whenever Coach Choi speaks, responded by acting as the licorice in the medicine cabinet.
“I prepared from the beginning of the tournament, and I learned one more thing (from Coach Choi), which led to the bronze medal,” she said.
Coach Choi Yoon-ah still had some regrets about her team’s loss against Korea, but there was a faint smile on her face as she was happy to see her team win the bronze medal.
“I’m glad we won the bronze medal. With Park Ji-soo, not in the distant future, Korean basketball can change enough to match the international trend,” he said.
“I recognize (Japan’s) ability. We can play the kind of basketball that Japan played against Korea. It was a basketball that we can play at any time…(fast-break deep threes from further away than the three-point line, especially fast-break deep threes even when we are winning)…This is also a point that Korean basketball can look at if we prepare and hone it along with utilizing space,” he said.
“You’ve been coaching for two years and you won a medal. See you in Korea!”
Once known as Hamtori and Wanso Yoon-ah, she transformed into a field commander on the court and a second life as a coach… Yoon-ah Choi exits the mix zone, and Coach Choi’s search for solutions to modern basketball continues.