Jumbos reinforce squad ahead of championship title defense

A picture of Maksim Zhigalov shared on the Incheon Korean Air Jumbos' official Instagram account on Saturday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Incheon Korean Air Jumbos signed opposite spiker Maksim Zhigalov of Russia on Saturday ahead of the 2023-24 V League championship where the Incheon side could become the first-ever team to sweep both league and championship titles for a fourth consecutive time.

Zhigalov, 34, joins from Qatari team Police Union and replaces Jumbos’ foreign player Murad Khan, as V League rules stipulate that each team can only have one foreign player in its squad, in addition to one Asia Quota pick.

The Jumbos were quoted as saying by Korean media on Sunday that the change was made after Khan displayed an inconsistent performance in the league this season.

After joining the Jumbos as a replacement for former opposite spiker Lincoln Williams, who was dropped in the middle of the campaign due to back pain, Khan scored 246 points in 19 league games.

He scored 52 points in a game against the Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers in January, but that was his best performance, scoring fewer points and seeing a decreased time on the court afterward.

New signee Zhigalov will not have much time to adapt to the team, as the Jumbos are set to compete in the best-of-five championship starting on March 29 against the playoff winners.

The best-of-three playoffs between league runners-up Seoul Woori Card Woori Won and third-placed Ansan OK Financial Group Okman is ongoing, with Okman having won the first game 3-2 on Saturday.

The playoff winners that will face the Jumbos could be decided on Monday, with the second playoff game starting in Ansan, Gyeonggi.

This year’s championship could be as fierce as the league, where the Jumbos took the title by edging out Woori Won by just one point. Had Woori won their last league game against the Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs on March 16, they would have won the league title.

In head-to-head games between the two sides this season, the Jumbos recorded two wins and four losses. Against Okman, the Incheon side managed four wins and two losses.

Not even the Bluefangs have achieved four title sweeps in a row, having swept both titles from 2011-12 through the 2013-14 seasons and won the 2014-15 league title again, but lost the championship that season to Okman.

This year’s championship schedule will last through April 6 at the latest.

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