The perfect skater-coach marriage of Kim Yu Na and Brian Orser has turned into a nasty divorce. Apparently the management team of Kim Yu Na, headed up by her mother, has dismissed Brian Orser and apparently Orser has now broken a cardinal rule in figure skating and that was revealing the song to her new long program for 2011. There’s some sniping going on between the two parties. This is pretty unfortunate because they seemed like the right dynamic for a winning pair. Making things even more awkward is the fact that Kim Yu Na is still practicing in Toronto at the same rink that Orser is coaching other pupils. This is like dating where you work and you see each other in the cafeteria. Awkward!
This shouldn’t be a surprise but a Korean won the USGA Women’s Amateur Championship. Holla! Just like last year when Jennifer Song won the coveted trophy. Danielle is only a high school teenager but it looks like this win may just be the beginning of a stellar golfing career.
Danielle Kang’s 4-foot putt on the next-to-last hole in the U.S. Women’s Amateur on Sunday gave her a 2 and 1 match-play victory over Jessica Korda.
Kang led deep into the second round during the final at Charlotte Country Club. But she conceded the lead when she ran into bunker trouble on the 30th hole. Korda took the lead for the first time when her third shot reached within a foot and Kang’s fourth shot stuck in the rough.
Kang squared the match three holes later with a 5-foot par putt. She retook the lead on the 34th hole, when she converted for par and Korda missed a putt from at least 10 feet. Korda missed a birdie on the next hole and Kang had a putt from five feet to seal it.
“Today was very stressful,” Kang said. “When I made that I just wanted to cry because all of the stress was in me. I’m trying not to show it. I’m smiling, but it’s stressful, so it was really big.”
The 17-year-olds were both vying for their first U.S. Amateur title. Sunday was the third straight match in which Kang, the women’s amateur medalist a year ago, fended off a rally during the final three holes.
“Danielle was just making birdie after birdie after birdie or birdie on top of my birdies or birdies before my birdies,” Korda said. “It was a birdie barrage.”
Kang will attend Pepperdine after graduating from high school early.
You may not know this but there is a developmental tour for the LPGA and it’s called the Duramed Futures Tour. This is the proving grounds for future LPGA stars and they have a prestigious alumnus. Of course there are a good number of Korean players pounding away on the Duramed Futures Tour, but they’re also winning. Yesterday, Tiffany Joh won the ING New England Classic.
Leave it to Tiffany Joh to totally underestimate her prodigious talent or to downplay her ability to chase down a strong tournament leader and come out on top after a four-hole playoff.
The affable and always entertaining second-year pro did just that today when she roared from five shots back to win the $100,000 ING New England Golf Classic, finally ending the head-to-head battle in extra holes against Gerina Mendoza with a birdie on her last trip to the 18th hole at Wintonbury Hills Golf Course.
Joh (pronounced Joe) carded rounds of 67-65-68 to finish at 10-under 200 for the $14,000 winner’s check. Mendoza, who set tournament scoring records this week for 18 holes and 36 holes, posted rounds of 62-65-73 for a 10-under total of 200, losing the playoff for second place.
“Honestly, just getting into the playoff was an accomplishment,” said Joh, 23, of San Diego, who earned her first tournament win on the Duramed FUTURES Tour today. “This is just completely unexpected because I was five back, and because Gerina is such a great player.”
Mendoza started the day with a five-shot cushion and birdied her first hole to go up by six, but that advantage dwindled when the big hitter clobbered her drives all day and then wrestled with her approach shots. By day’s end, Mendoza had hit only eight greens in regulation and recorded five bogeys. That was far too much scrambling for a leader with hungry young pros like Joh breathing down her collar.
Korean-American golfer Lion Kim won the 2010 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Bryan Park in Greensboro, North Carolina on Sunday (KST), defeating David McDaniel by six holes in the 36-hole final.
The win earns the 21-year-old Kim a ticket to the 2011 Masters and exemption from the regional preliminaries for the U.S. Open for the next three years. He also will be invited to the U.S. Amateur Championship this year and the next.
Danny Lee and An Byeong-hun won the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2008 and 2009, respectively, but Kim is the first male player of Korean descent to win the Public Links.
The Public Links is one of the major nationwide tournaments administered by the U.S. Golf Association, along with the U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open, and the U.S. Amateur Championship.
Kim was born in Seoul in 1989 and moved to the U.S. with his parents as a baby. He is currently a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Damn thumb injury! Shin Soo Choo, the Cleveland Indians outfielder who was leading his team in all hitting categories went onto the disabled list after injuring his thumb trying to dive to catch a baseball. He was expected to be the lone representative for the Cleveland Indians at the mid-summers classic at the MLB All Star game. It would’ve been great to see a Korean become the first position player named to the MLB All Star game. What awful timing. It brings to light of how well Shin-Soo Choo has been playing this season and he’s become a big fan favorite of the Cleveland fans. The Indians right fielder was batting .286 with 48 runs scored, 13 homers, 14 Doubles, 2 Triples and 43 RBI’s in the 78 games this season.
South Korea’s tie with Nigeria coupled with Argentina’s win over Greece ensured South Korea advancing to the knockout rounds for only the second time in their World Cup history. We all vividly remember the last time in 2002 when they co-hosted the World Cup with Japan and advanced all the way to the semi-finals before falling to Germany. That riveted an entire nation and bonded many Koreans living around the world. It also bonded parents with their children.
Yesterday was a hard fought game that required some luck for them to salvage a tie. Nigeria had great opportunities to score goals but in the end, the soccer God’s were smiling on South Korea as they secured the tie and advanced to meet Uruguay on Saturday morning.
Korea Republic recovered from the loss of an early goal to draw 2-2 against Nigeria in a gripping contest at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Tuesday. The result sees the Asians through to the Round of 16 as second-place finishers from Group B behind winners Argentina, and they will meet Group A winners Uruguay in the first stage of knockout play on 26 June in Nelson Mandela Bay. Nigeria, with just one point from their three matches, are heading for home to ponder what might have been.
The Nigerians, in dire need of a win to stay alive, dodged a bullet in only the second minute, when big Danny Shittu’s horrid clearance fell to the feet of Park Chu-Young in a dangerous position on the right. The Monaco man’s low cross was picked out well by the sliding Lee Chung-Yong, who sacrificed his body in a collision with Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama only to stroke wide of the near post.
After that early scare, Nigeria began to boss the play with their best moments of these finals. Coach Lars Lagerback opted for four attacking players in his starting XI, including Nwankwo Kanu, used for the first time in South Africa. The positive approach paid off, the Super Eagles taking a lead in the 12th minute. Chidi Odiah wriggled his way up the right side with a classy piece of approach work and his low cross was nailed into the corner by Kalu Uchu, who had snuck around his marker. The goal was met with a roar from the home crowd, in need of a boost after their beloved Bafana Bafana were eliminated earlier in the day.
Nigeria continued to push forward as the half wore on, with Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi going close and Kanu and Yakubu Ayegbeni combining well in the advanced positions. The Koreans – who looked so organised in their first match – were getting pushed around and losing their shape as the half wound down. Uche nearly doubled his tally in the 36th minute, only to see his shot from distance slam off the upright to a groan from the crowd. The Asians, against the run of play, took full advantage and drew level with their first shot on goal, Lee Jung-Soo heading home while unmarked at the back post after a free-kick delivered by Ki Sung-Yueng seven minutes from the interval.
The Koreans came out in the second half looking lively. After Lee Young-Pyo tested Enyeama in the opening seconds, danger man Park Chu-Young curled his direct free-kick around the wall and inside the back post from the corner of the penalty area to put the Taeguk Warriors on top 2-1 with just minutes gone. Pockets of lively Korean fans were growing in confidence and voice, singing the anthems that propelled their men to the semi-finals as hosts in 2002, but they were nearly silenced when Yakubu was clear in on goal in the 59th minute. Only a last-ditch tackle from Cho Yong-Hyung kept the big Everton man from a certain equaliser.
‘Yak’ was at the heart of the action again shortly after, missing a sitter from six yards in the 66th minute, before showing the guts to step up to the spot three minutes later and draw his side level after Obasi was felled in the area. A frenzied half-hour followed, with both sides going agonisingly close to tipping the balance and substitute Obafemi Martins missing a golden breakaway chance. But it was the Korean players celebrating at the final whistle while Nigeria became the third of six African participants to fall at the first hurdle.
If you woke up early this morning or stayed up all night to watch the South Korea game against Argentina, you’re probably feeling depressed or starting to feel a bad hangover. South Korea lost or should I say got demolished by the very talented Argentinians in the second game of their World Cup. I was at Circle Nightclub in New York where I reveled with my fellow Korean-Americans and JYP. Yes, the music man JYP was in the house with a bevy of ladies at his corner table, but no Wonder Girls. We were awash in a sea of red but there was one daring young Argentinian girl who showed up with her country’s jersey. Daring but everyone was cordial to her, except when the drums went off and we all clapped and shouted “DAE HAN MIN GUK!” The buzzkill started early when Argentina scored early but the last minute goal in the first half by South Korea erupted the Circle nightclub, giving us hope that we were still in it to win it. Early in the second half, the Koreans got off their defensive butts and started to press the ball forward but in the end, it was the very talented Argentinians that showed us and the rest of the world, they have the best player in the world on their team as well as many other talented (Gonzalo Higuain) futbol players. We still have hope to get out of group matches and to advance to the knockout stages if Nigeria and Greece can toil.
The Brazilians are considered the team to beat along with Spain in this year’s World Cup, and today they begin the quest for their 6th World Cup against North Korea in the group of death. North Korea is the lowest ranked seed in the tournament but they have an interesting history, having defeated the Italians in 1966 for one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history. Could history repeat itself against the almighty Brazilians? Odds are no but commentators have suggested that there is a sliver of hope for North Korea to pull it off with their recent performances the last couple of years. We’re not suggesting you root for North Korea. Though some friends have said they would because the North Koreans have the same ethnicity as the South Koreans…. true. However, politically and historically, we are diametrically opposed and therefore it complicates our feelings towards North Korea. The New York Times gave us a quick history lesson about North Korea and the men that conquered Italy in 1966. The BBC actually profiled them and it revealed personalities that we would not expect from men under a suppressive regime.
That 1-0 victory for North Korea stands alongside the United States’ 1-0 win over England in 1950 as one of the two biggest upsets in World Cup history. And there is something else about that famous result from 1966, something that runs counter to many commonly held perceptions of North Koreans as a people. The men who won that match were funny, dignified and, above all, just like the sportsmen of any other nation — as we learn from a remarkable 2002 BBC documentary called “The Game of Their Lives.”
ESPN decided to do a poll on the best World Cup inspired song since every country has one and guess who ended up #1 by an overwhelming majority. When I mean overwhelming, they had over 90% of ALL VOTES!!! That would be Super Junior’s “Victory Korea.” The next closest song only had 2% of the vote. Wow! Check out Super Junior’s “Victory Korea.” For the results, go to ESPN.com.
What a way to start the weekend! It’s hard to wake up early on a Saturday morning, but a lot easier when South Korea is playing in the World Cup. The Red Devils came alive and dominated Greece. Yeah I said it, they dominated Greece: the game commentators and the ESPN analysts admitted such. The fun got started early with Lee Jung Soo’s goal off a corner kick in the 7th minute. The Korean team kept picking off the balls from Greece and countering with their speed, putting constant pressure on their goalie and defense. And early in the second half, the captain Park Ji Sung stole the ball deep in Greece’s territory and made a sweet kick across and past the goalie and trailing defender. It was 2-0 and game over. However, let’s not forget that South Korea has won its previous two opening games and failed to advance to the second round in 2006. South Korea is in a tough group with powerhouses Argentina and Nigeria, but they picked up 3 points to give them momentum. Let’s Go Korea! DAEHAN MINGUK!!! Fighting!
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