Masan Ladies Make History

It's such a shame. I've checked a couple of Korean on-line newspapers ( in English) but none have featured the recent triumph of the Korean women's badminton team in the recent Uber Cup Championships held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sports in Korea seems to be dominated by football, golf, baseball and ice-skating ( not necessarily in that order) and to my surprise, there's not even a mention of the achievements of the ladies who hail from Masan and how they've beaten the Chinese team in the badminton finals in this prestigious tournament in the world of badminton.

Let me quote the head coach, Kim Jong Soo to sum up this milestone: "This is a historic day for Korean badminton. We reached the finals five times before and we were beaten in all five by China. But today it was a different story, we were not the second fiddle.We've had enough of losing to the Chinese. The players were determined to break the jinx and we did it in Kuala Lumpur."

Just hope there'll be some welcoming committee for the ladies when they get back to Korea. It's a pity that badminton isn't such a glamorous sport as ice-skating but then again, who ever said that life was fair?


Here are the results:
Bae Seung Hee beat Wang Yihan 23-21, 21-11;
Lee Hyo Jung/Kim Min Jung beat Ma Jin/Wang Xiaoli 18-21, 21-12, 21-15;
Sung Ji Hyun lost to Wang Xin 14-21, 21-16, 7-21;
Lee Kyung Won/Ha Jung Eun beat Du Jing/Yu Yang 19-21, 21-14, 21-19.



sources:
http://badmintonlife.com/2010/thomas-and-uber-cup-2010-korea-stuns-china-to-win-uber-cup/
http://www.badzine.info/index.php/news/international/2508-fast-facts-about-the-2010-uber-cup.html
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/39072
http://sports.globaltimes.cn/moresports/2010-05/532085.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXyA1mgbJLM&feature=related

Letter to Ajummas Who Want Their Daughters To Be Like Kim Yuna

Dear ajummas,
From the youtube clip here, there seems to be a growing trend in which some parents may be pushing their children onto the ice-rinks in the hopes that their children can copy the phenomenal sporting cum commercial success of Kim Yuna.
This is an appeal to ajummas harbouring such ambitions, please don't kill your child's interest in the sport. Take a closer look at her ankles and medical records and ask yourself if that's what you want for your child.
Don't want to take anything away from Queen Yuna's achievement but I'd be more assured if little girls in Korea want to be the best that they can be in whatever they're good at and in whatever they enjoy instead of copies of 2010's Olympic gold medallist in skating for women.
Sincerely,
ajumma