Last May, OK Financial Group Song Myeong-geun and Woori Card Song Hee-chae changed their uniforms.
It was really a big deal. Song Myung-geun, who joined the pro league in 2013 after graduating from Kyunggi University, was a leading striker who only played for OK Financial Group (including former Rush & Cash), and was the team’s ace, scoring 3,268 points in 259 V-League games. He lifted the trophy in the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons, and after the 2017-2018 season, he also showed loyalty to the team when he qualified as a free agent. Many volleyball fans were surprised by the news of the trade of former franchise star Song Myung-geun.
Woori Card manager Shin Young-chul chose Song Myung-geun to reinforce his offense because Na Kyung-bok, the main outside hitter, left the team as a free agent (FA).
And at the 2023 Gumi-Dodram Cup Professional Volleyball Competition held at Park Chung-hee Gymnasium in Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do on the 10th, Song Myung-geun faced his former team for the first time since the trade. Song Myung-geun’s expression was different even before the start of the game. I could tell from his expression that he wanted to win against his old team.
Players from both teams greeted each other across the net before the game started. The player who greeted Song Myeong-geun was Shin Ho-jin, who took his place. Shin Ho-jin, who graduated from Inha University, is a newcomer who joined OK Financial Group as the first overall pick in the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) rookie draft for the 2022-2023 season. He is a versatile player who can play both as an apogee spiker and outside hitter as a left-handed striker. From his debut season, he was expected to play a key role, but his professional wall was high. He didn’t get many opportunities due to a back injury and sluggishness, and he suffered growing pains last year.
However, it was different now that he had fully recovered from his injury. OK Financial Group had to fill the gap between Jae-seong Cho, who left the team due to irregularities in military service, and Myung-geun Song, who left the team due to a trade, with Shinhojin. In today’s match, Shin Ho-jin proved his worth as much as his team expected. He led the team’s offense by posting 25 points (44.90% attack success rate).
In terms of composition, there were many confrontations with Song Myung-geun, but Shin Ho-jin showed volleyball without being nervous, especially playing a big role in OK Financial Group’s victory by blocking Song Myung-geun’s quick opening in the fifth set.
In the end, OK Financial Group advanced to the semifinals with a set score of 3-2 (25-23 19-25 25-18 23-25 15-13) after a close match in the full set. On the other hand, Song Myung-geun of Woori Card scored 22 points, but he was eliminated from the preliminary round due to the defeat.
After the game, Song Myung-geun and Shin Go-jin met again over the net, and Song Myung-geun congratulated Shin Go-jin, who filled his spot completely, and Shin Go-jin greeted Song Myung-geun, who met again after a long time. Song Myung-geun smiled at Shin Ko-jin, who has grown beyond recognition, and cheered for his junior’s future.
Song Myung-geun, the leading striker of OK Financial Group, confronted Shin Shin-jin, who settled down after the trade. Photo / Korea Volleyball Federation
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