“Actually, I don’t have high expectations.”
On the 17th, in the 3rd round of the 2022-23 Dodram V-League Women’s Division held at Chungmu Gymnasium in Daejeon, Heungkuk Life Insurance won a set score 3-1 against KGC Ginseng Corporation. .
At the same time, ‘Volleyball Empress’ Kim Yeon-kyung earned her first free-status player (FA) status since her last 2005 debut.
According to the regulations of the Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO), if she plays 6 seasons as a high school graduate, she can qualify as a domestic free agent. KOVO considers 1 season to be over if the number of business trips in each season is 40% or more of the entire regular league, and if it meets 5 seasons (6 seasons for high school graduates), FA qualification is granted.
Kim Yeon-kyung, who returned to Heungkuk Life Insurance, her original team from overseas after a year, completed her 15 games this season and earned her FA qualification.
Kim Yeon-kyung is currently receiving the highest annual salary of 700 million won (450 million won in annual salary, 250 million won in options), the highest annual salary in the domestic women’s division, so even if he becomes a free agent, his annual salary is not greatly affected.
In fact, she confided in Kim Yeon-kyung’s post-game interview this season that she “doesn’t have high expectations” and that she “isn’t there anything that has changed except that I can just be free and pick a different team?” .
But for other teams, the story is different. Heungkuk Life Insurance sharply felt the vacancy of her Kim Yeon-kyung last season. She struggled in the lower ranks, plummeting to 6th place with 31 points and 10 wins and 23 losses.
And she all season, when Kim Yeon-kyung returned, her wandering figure disappeared. Currently, with 35 accumulated points, there is virtually no team to compete with except Hyundai Engineering & Construction (38 points), who are undefeated in the first round. Korea Expressway Corporation is sticking to it by making a full set every time with a sticky defense, but they have never lost in the first to third rounds.
Currently, Kim Yeon-kyung ranks second with a 45.09% attack success rate based on her 15 games, placing her just below Yasmin. In terms of scoring, he is practically a foreign mercenary. It is ranked 7th with a cumulative 275 points, but all 1st to 6th places are occupied by foreign players. In addition, one person actually does the job for four people with very good air defense, such as 4th place in open attack 토토 (success rate 42.36%), 3rd place in time difference attack (55.56% success rate), and 6th place in receive efficiency (48.70%).
Coach Kang Seong-hyeong, who leads Hyundai E&C, also admired Kim Yeon-kyung at the beginning of the season as “a player with four strengths.”
Coach Kwon Soon-chan, who has been newly appointed to Heungkuk Life Insurance this season and has Kim Yeon-kyung at the same time, is to the extent that the joke mixed with ‘I hit the lottery’ follows like a tag. In fact, it is often noticeable that Kim Yeon-kyung gathers players and gives operational instructions instead of coach Kwon at each game operation time. In fact, from the perspective of the club, it is like getting another foreign player and a second manager at the same time.
Above all, as soon as he is recruited as a player who boasts the number 1 fandom in both name and reality, a cloud crowd is guaranteed. Currently, Kim Yeon-kyung is driving thousands of spectators in the metropolitan area and provinces, giving a big smile to the club officials. He has no reason not to bring him even after giving more than 700 million from the standpoint of other teams.
An official from another club with a home stadium in the province expressed the opinion, “Isn’t the effect of Kim Yeon-kyung really great? (If FA qualification is released) I want to bring Kim Yeon-kyung even if I rebuild the gym somewhere.”
Kim Yeon-kyung, who became a free agent. In fact, it’s embarrassing to even call him a big fish. Even if he transfers, he is ‘cool’ because nothing will change except for his uniform and teammates, but he is ‘hot’ to other clubs. In fact, the team’s luck for the next season is at stake. Eyes are also on his transfer to level the league power.
Of course, everything depends on the gaze of Kim Yeon-kyung, who has become free after 17 years and has become a ‘genie with an untied bracelet’.
Heungkuk Life Insurance, where Kim Yeon-kyung is currently playing a big role, is ahead of a game against GS Caltex at 7:00 pm on the 20th at Samsan Gymnasium in Incheon.