Tseveenravdan Orkhon picked first in V League rookie draft

Tseveenravdan Orkhon from Mokpo Girls' Commercial High School poses for a picture during the V League rookie draft on Monday at the Riviera Hotel in Cheongdam, southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

The V League rookie draft was held on Monday in Cheongdam, southern Seoul, one month ahead of the start of the 2022-23 V League season.

Twenty-one of the 49 players from 16 schools that took part in the draft were picked. As the newest club, Pepper Savings Bank had the first pick, unsurprisingly choosing top prospect Tseveenravdan Orkhon from Mokpo Girls' Commercial High School.

According to rule No. 83 on the KOVO regulations, only naturalized foreigners can participate in the rookie draft. However, if the player has applied for naturalization and is undergoing the process, the player can participate with the consent of all other clubs.

Orkhon, who is Mongolian, was able to participate in the draft as all V League clubs gave their consent, but will still have to pass the naturalization test to actually play in the V League.

Orkhon was born in Mongolia in 2004 and came to Korea in 2019. In 2021, she was adopted by Korea Ginseng Corporation Yeum Hye-seon's parents, taking the Korean surname Yeum, but not gaining Korean citizenship.

Orkhon has failed the naturalization test twice and is scheduled to take it again in October.

"The naturalization test will be held in October and she will need to pass it to start playing in the V League," said Pepper Savings Bank manager Kim Hyung-sil on Monday.

"Right now, the naturalization process needs to be decided quickly and is more important than her technical aspect. We have high expectations for Orkhon. She has the potential to become one of the core players of the club."

Pepper Savings Bank also snapped up Lee Min-seo from Sunmyung Girls' High School.

Elsewhere in the draft, Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders signed Lim Hye-rim, Kim Min-ji, Kim Ji-woo and Kim Seo-yoon; Korea Ginseng Corporation signed Park Eun-ji and Choi Hyo-seo; Industrial Bank of Korea Altos signed Kim Yoon-woo and Oh yoo-ran; GS Caltex Seoul Kixx signed Yoon-Gyeol, Kim Bo-been and Kim Do-yeon; Korea Expressway Corporation signed Yim Joo-eun, Lee Ye-eun, Lee Mi-so, Gong Eun-seo and Jung So-yool; and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate signed Seo Ga-eun, Kim Sa-rang and Hwang Ji-min.

The men's and women's 2022- 2023 V League will kick off in Oct. 22 and continue to April 7, 2023.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]