Asan Woori Won win WKBL title with five games still to play

The Asan Woori Bank Woori Won celebrate after receiving the WKBL trophy at Sajik Gymnasium in Busan on Monday. [NEWS1]

Asan Woori Bank Woori Won won their 14th WKBL title on Monday, beating Busan BNK SUM 76-52 at Sajik Gymnasium to secure an unassailable lead at the top of the table.

With 21 wins and four losses, the Woori Won have locked in the title with five games still to be played. The second-place Yongin Samsung Life Blue Minx are six wins behind, meaning that even if the Asan team lose their last five games, their victory is secure.

With 14 titles, the Woori Won are the winningest team in WKBL by a huge margin. The Blue Minx and Incheon Shinhan Bank S-Birds are tied for second in terms of all-time wins, on six each.

Kim Dan-bi recorded 14 points and Park Ji-hyun recorded 27 to lead the Woori Won attack in Monday’s all-important victory.

Kim is a recent addition to the squad, joining from the S-Birds on a free transfer last year ahead of the 2022-23 season.

The 32-year-old forward has been showing her class both in offense and defense since joining the new team, helping her side ride a 15-game winning streak in the early days of the season.

Kim is the player with the second-highest average points this season, having scored an average 18.48 points per set, just 1.2 points behind Kim Sonia of the S-Birds.

The league winners have improved their attack as they have recorded an average of 73.9 points per game, two points higher than their last season.

Asan’s biggest competitor last season, the Cheongju KB Stars, have not been the same this season since their ace Park Ji-su missed multiple matches due to injury.

Park left training with the KB Stars last July after showing signs of a panic attack. She was out until December, and has not been able to regain her old form, scoring an average of 13.78 points in nine appearances so far.

The KB Stars averaged 78.7 points per game in 26 games last season. Without their ace, the Stars attack has waned significantly, scoring an average of 66.2 points per game.

Meanwhile, the Woori Won have a chance of winning the WKBL Championship now that they have won the WKBL.

The playoffs for the WKBL Championship will be played as one tournament between the league leaders and the three teams finished in second to fourth place.

The league leaders will play the fourth-place team, while the runners-up and the third-place team will face each other.

The two winning teams will then land in the championship game, which will be played in five games.

The Woori Won has won the WKBL Championship 11 times.

This is Asan’s first chance to actually win the WKBL Championship for the first time in five years. They were recognized as the technical winners of the championship in the 2019-20 season, despite not actually playing the final championship game, because they were the league leaders right before the season was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]