Kim Yeon-kyung’s national retirement game and invitational match with the world’s women’s volleyball legends are drawing attention to who will be in charge.
On June 8, the Korea Volleyball Association will host the “Kim Yeon-kyung National Retirement Match and National Retirement Ceremony” at the Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium in Seoul.
The next day, June 9, the “Kim Yeon Kyung Invitational World Women’s Volleyball All-Star Game” will be held at the same venue, hosted by Kim’s management company, Lion At, and organized by Next Creative. The day will also mark the launch of Kim’s charity foundation, the KYK Foundation.
Currently, most of the players who will be playing in Kim’s national retirement match and the World Women’s Volleyball All-Star Game have been confirmed. The organizers of the event, 스포츠토토사이트 KYK INVITATIONAL 2024, recently released the roster of players on their official social media accounts.
Both matches will feature “super legends” of women’s volleyball from Korea and around the world.
The Korean players include Kim Yeon-kyung, Yang Hyo-jin, Kim Soo-ji, Kim Hee-jin, Hwang Yeon-ju, Han Song-i, Bae Yoo-na, Kim Hae-ran, Lee Myeong-ok, and Yeom Hye-sun, all of whom were part of the 2012 London Olympic quarterfinals, 2016 Rio Olympic quarterfinals, and 2020 Tokyo Olympic quarterfinals. These are the top legends of the golden era of Korean women’s volleyball.
They are joined by V-League youngsters Park Eun-jin, Yoo Seo-yeon, Lee Yoon-jung, Kim Ha-kyung, Park Eun-seo, Kim Se-bin, and others to create a blend of old and new.
In addition, the main players of the London and Rio Olympics, including Han Song-i, Han Yoo-mi, Lee Sook-ja, Kim Hae-ran, and Lee Hyo-hee, will have their national retirement ceremony with Kim Yeon-kyung.
Korea’s and the world’s ‘greatest legends’ to travel to Jamsil in Seoul
Some of the greatest legends in the history of women’s volleyball, including those who will compete in the World All-Star Game, will be performing for Korean fans in Seoul.
What’s surprising is that these legends aren’t all retired players. Most of them are still playing in the big leagues overseas. Of the 11 international invitees, only one is retired.
Sheila (41) and Fabiana (39), who played a key role in Brazil’s “back-to-back gold medals” at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, will be competing in the tournament. Sheila is the only one who has retired from active play. Fabiana is still playing in the Brazilian league. Next season, she will play in the American League.
Natalia (35), who won gold at the London 2012 Olympics and silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with the Brazilian national team, will also be competing. Natalia is known for being Kim’s best friend.
Also in the lineup are Goncharova (35), one of the biggest stars in Russian women’s volleyball, Nagaoka (33), Japan’s main attacker at the Rio Olympics, and Maret (36), a former member of the Dutch national team at its peak. They are all still going strong in their respective leagues. The top stars of the Argentine and Thai women’s volleyball teams will also be in attendance.
It will be a great experience for the local players who will be playing alongside them in the World Women’s Volleyball All-Star Game.
Domestic and foreign coaches… The most expensive seats are ‘sold out’
The next question is who will lead the team, and since most of the players in this tournament are Olympic legends, the most likely candidates are those who have served as managers and coaches of Olympic teams.
Kim Yeon-kyung’s retirement game will likely be coached by Kim Hyung-shil (73), the former head coach of the South Korean women’s volleyball team at the London 2012 Olympics, and Lee Jung-chul (64), a commentator for SBS SPORTS, who was the head coach of the Rio 2016 Olympic team.
The World Women’s Volleyball All-Star Game will be coached by a foreigner. The obvious choice would be Lavarini (45), who led South Korea’s women’s volleyball team to a fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. However, she won’t be coming to South Korea. He is currently coaching Poland’s national team in the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) and has to prepare for the Paris Olympics in July.
That leaves Cesar, 47, the former head coach of the South Korean women’s national volleyball team. He assisted Lavarini as the women’s volleyball coach at the Tokyo Olympics and succeeded Lavarini as the head coach of the Korean national team.
Although Korea’s women’s volleyball program has struggled at the international level under Cesar’s watch, the ongoing 2024 VNL is proving that it can’t be blamed solely on the coach. The difference in quality between domestic and world-class players and the vast difference in playing patterns between the V-League and the big leagues overseas are the main reasons.
Since stepping down as head coach of the Korean national team, Cesar has also been the head coach of Nantes in the French Ligue 1, which won the regular season title and finished runner-up in the postseason championship last season. In the process, Cesar was awarded the ‘Best Coach of the French League’ award.
The foreign coach for the other team is a mystery. The Korean Volleyball Association and the tournament organizers will finalize and announce the head coach and player roster in the near future.
Meanwhile, tickets for the tournament have been on sale since the 20th of this month on Ticketlink. However, the most expensive floor (250,000 won) and first floor (150,000 won) seats are almost sold out. The June 8 game was sold out within a day of going on sale, and there are only about 60 seats left for the June 9 game.
Currently, the second floor (80,000 won) and third floor (40,000 won) seats, which are relatively low in price, are being actively reserved. The Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium, where the tournament will be held, has nearly 10,000 seats.