On the 16th, Inhasa Daebu High School won the 2023 Taebaek Mountain Cup National Men’s and Women’s Middle and High School Volleyball Competition (hereafter Taebaek Mountain Cup) Songsan High School in Taebaek, Gangwon-do on the 16th by a shutout and advanced to the semifinals.
It is Inha Sadaebu High School that reached the quarterfinals following the 2022 Spring League match held last year, but Choi Jun-hyeok (3rd grade, MB, 203cm) made the semifinals for the first time in high school.
This is because he was selected for the U20 national team to participate in the 21st Asian Youth Men’s U20 Championships when the Spring League match was in progress. After winning the bronze medal for the U20 national team, his potential was recognized as he grew day by day.메이저놀이터
Not only is he over 2m tall, but he also has good hardware as a middle blocker. He was listed as a promising player to lead Korean volleyball in the future by being named in the preliminary 50-man list for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games despite being a high school student.
Choi Jun-hyeok, who we met after the semifinals were confirmed, said, “To win the day before the game, I watched the video of the game until late and analyzed it hard. He really wanted to go to the quarterfinals, so he was able to win thanks to his teammates and his hard work,” he said.
They won by shutout, but there was also a crisis in the content of the game. I also captured scenes where the atmosphere in the court was disturbed due to being reversed by the opponent or making a mistake. Every time that happened, Choi Jun-hyeok looked back and said, “We gathered together, took a deep breath, and tried to start from the beginning.”
During the winter vacation, Inha University High School left for field training in Japan with Inha University. After learning a lot in Japan and coming back to Korea, it has definitely changed. He started playing volleyball in the second year of middle school and said that each and every experience was precious because his pitch was short.
Choi Jun-hyeok said, “Japanese players, despite their short stature, defended hard and did not drop the ball easily. Also, the blocking method and timing have changed for the better.”
Lim Jae-young of Korean Air and Shin Shin of OK Financial Group steadily made it to the finals when they were in school, but even until the recent few years, Inhasa University High School did not boast a strong history.
After the semi-finals of the 2018 Taebaek Mountain Cup, he reached the semifinals for the first time in four years last year, and advanced to the Taebaek Mountain Cup for the first time in five years. As a player who is directly involved in the team, “The manager and coach think it important to be a team. We were able to get the good results we have now thanks to working hard without dropping the ball and coming together as one when it was difficult.”
“For middle blockers, blocking is important. That’s why I am the most confident in blocking. Finally, he promised, “I will meet Cheonan High School in the semifinals, and I will win the final with good results as I have good memories of winning last year.”