Have a very sporty Seollal

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Have a very sporty Seollal

Published: 19 Jan. 2023, 17:11

The Lunar New Year is typically a time for family and food, with many of us hitting the road to travel across the country to visit relatives and enjoy the brief break. But not everybody is able to get away for the holiday and even those that do might want the occasional break from the festivities — that’s where sports comes in.

So whether you’re feasting with all the family or tucking into a bowl of tteokguk (rice cake soup) for one, there’s plenty to keep you entertained over the holiday season.

Footballs fans are spoilt for choice this year, with league games in full swing across most of Europe and plenty of big fixtures to watch out for over the weekend. The domestic volleyball and basketball leagues are also underway, and golf fans will see some action over the long weekend as well.

Ssireum, a form of traditional Korean wrestling that is always part of the holiday season, will be back on TV for people looking for something a little different to watch this year.

Finally, for those looking for an excuse to get out their Taegukgi this weekend, Korean athletes are currently competing at the Winter World University Games, the men’s Hockey World Cup and the World Men’s Handball Championship.

European football takes center stage

There’s plenty for the football fan to get excited about this Seollal as teams across Europe turn out for some big holiday games.

Son Heung-min fans can get a double dose of Tottenham Hotspur if they tune in early on Friday morning, when Spurs’ Thursday night Premier League clash with Manchester City will be televised in Korea.

The Lilywhites will be back in action on Monday, or early on Tuesday morning in Korea, for what ought to be a slightly easier fixture against Fulham, also in the Premier League.

Son is likely to be in action in both games, and his recent decision to fully abandon the Zorro mask means we might see a bit more of the old flair that characterized his attacks in previous seasons.

Hwang Hee-chan and Wolverhampton Wanderers will also face Man City over the weekend, with their game scheduled early on Sunday in Manchester, meaning it will be broadcast at a very manageable 11 p.m. in Korea.

Sunday’s game will be the last chance to see Wolves in action before February, and for Hwang fans the Korean midfielder is getting increasingly exciting to watch. A far more common starter under new manager Julen Lopetegui, Hwang has visibly started to find his place in the team again recently and scored his first goal in 11 months two weeks ago.

Over in Italy, Napoli and the indomitable defensive wall that is Kim Min-jae will try to recover from their shock Coppa Italia loss to Serie A last place club Cremonese with a league match against Salernitana on Saturday.

That match in Salerno, Italy ought to see the league leaders return to their winning ways as manager Luciano Spalletti is unlikely to make the mistake of fielding a weakened squad for a second time. The game will be broadcast in the early hours of Sunday morning in Korea.

Down in Spain, Lee Kang-in and the Mallorca squad face Celta Vigo in a La Liga match on Friday evening, or early Saturday morning in Korea. That game, pitching the Balearic club against a far lower ranked team, ought to go Mallorca’s way, a much needed break after a rough couple of weeks.

Lee is also worth keeping an eye on for those fans tracking the transfer market, as the Mallorca midfielder remains one of the most likely Korean moves this winter. K League players Cho Gue-sung and Oh Hyeon-gyu are also up there, although both play for teams that maintain they aren’t going anywhere.

Hwang Ui-jo also seems like a certain move this winter, and there’s always a chance that the old Hwang Hee-chan-to-Leeds rumor might actually prove to be true.

All European football games are broadcast on SPOTV and its streaming service SPOTV NOW. The only exception is the Bundesliga, which is yet to resume its games following a very long international break.

PGA Tour keeps rolling on

Both the PGA and LPGA are in action over the weekend, with the PGA’s The American Express and the LPGA’s Tournament of Champions teeing off on Thursday.

An Byeong-hun, Im Sung-jae, Kang Sung-hoon, Kim Seong-hyeon, Kim Si-woo, Kim Joo-hyung and Lee Kyoung-hoon will all be competing at The American Express in southern California.

Kim Si-woo is the one to watch, arriving at the tournament which he won two years ago off the back of his fifth career win last week at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

An and Kim Seong-hyeon, who graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour, also enter The American Express on good form, having finished tied for 12th on 268 in Hawaii last week.

Kim Joo-hyung, who competes as Tom Kim, and Lee also both had good starts to the year, finishing in the top 10 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Jan. 8. Kim Joo-hyung finished tied for fifth, with Lee tying for seventh.

Over at the LPGA’s Tournament of Champions there won’t be any Koreans competing. Five golfers were eligible — Ko Jin-young, Kim Hyo-joo, Chun In-gee, Park In-bee and Ji Eun-hee — but all five declined to compete.

A tense weekend of volleyball

There’s volleyball games to watch throughout the Seollal break, with both the men’s and women’s V League playing at least one game every day.

Perhaps the biggest game to watch out for is the clash between the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders and Korea Expressway Corporation Hi-Pass on Saturday as the second- and third-place clubs in the league face off.

Elsewhere in the women’s V League, leaders Suwon Hyundai E&C Hillstate will take on the fourth-place GS Caltex Seoul KIXX on Friday and be back in action on Tuesday as they face Hi-Pass. On Sunday, Daejeon KGC will play the Hwaseong IBK Altos, while the KIXX return to the court on Monday to take on the Gwangju Pepper Bank AI Peppers.

Over in the men’s league, the Suwon Kepco Vixtorm face the Incheon Korean Air Jumbos on Friday, the Uijeongbu KB Insurance Stars take on the Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs on Saturday, the Seoul Woori Card WooriWON play the Ansan OK Financial Group Okman on Sunday, the Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers face Vixtorm on Monday and the Stars play the Jumbos on Tuesday.

Leaving it all on the court

There’s KBL action everyday over the Seollal break as Anyang KGC look to extend their lead at the top of the domestic table.

The KGC will be in action on Saturday as they take on the sixth-place Goyang Carrot Jumpers, and again on Tuesday for a game against the 10th-place Seoul Samsung Thunders.

The second-place Changwon LG Sakers, who sit 3.5 points behind KGC, start their weekend off with a game against the eighth-place Daegu Kogas Pegasus on Friday, followed by a game against the fifth-place Jeonju KCC Egis on Sunday.

The Sakers continue their busy week with an important game on Tuesday against the third-place Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus.

Over in the WKBL there are only two games scheduled over the long weekend.

On Friday the fifth-place Cheongju KB Stars will take on the second-place Busan BNK Sum, with the sixth-place Bucheon Hana 1Q facing the fourth-place Incheon Shinhan Bank S-Birds on Saturday.

Keeping the holiday tradition alive

If you’re looking for something a little more traditional this holiday season, the Withus 2023 Seolnal Jangsa Ssireum Competition is running from Thursday to Tuesday at Yeongnam Gymnasium in Yeongnam, South Jeolla.

Ssireum, a form of traditional Korean wrestling, has strong ties to Korean traditional holidays like the Lunar New Year and Chuseok, the harvest festival, and local tournaments are held across the country during the holiday season.

These tournaments operate on a last-man-standing basis. Contestants enter the ring until one forces the other’s upper body to touch the ground. That person is then eliminated and another challenger enters the ring.

The last man standing when all challengers are defeated is the winner.

The Yeongnam contest is being televised, so budding ssireum fans will be able to tune into KBS1 and KBS N SPORTS over the Lunar New Year to check out the event.

Only a few title fights will be broadcast on KBS1, KBS N Sports and the broadcasters streaming platform KBS ON, but other bouts can normally be watched on YouTube.

A total of 200 competitors are expected to compete in the male, female and group competitions.

This year’s tournament will also mark the debut of the newly-formed MG Community Credit Cooperatives ssireum team, the first corporate-backed team to join professional ssireum since the Hyundai Elephant Wrestling Group was disbanded in 2016.

Plenty of reasons to cheer

Away from the more mainstream sports there’s still plenty of reasons to cheer Korean athletes over the holiday, although some events might require a bit of a hunt if you want to try and watch them live.

The 2023 Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, New York began last week and runs through Sunday, with Korea’s best university-enrolled winter athletes giving it their all on the ice and snow.

As of press time Thursday, Korea sits in third place in the overall medal table with three gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

The vast majority of those medals come from speed skating, with Park Ji-woo and Kim Min-sun each winning gold in the women’s 1,500 meters and 1,000 meters. Korea’s one other gold came form over on the snow, where Lee Min-sik took gold in the men’s snowboard freestyle.

Coming up over the weekend for Korean winter sports fans are the short track speed skating events.

Down in India, the Korean field hockey team is set to play its final game of the 2023 Hocky Men’s World Cup against Germany on Friday, needing a win to be in with a chance of advancing.

In Poland, the Korean handball team will continue their competition in the President’s Cup with a game against Chile on Sunday.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]