‘Korean Dream’ Korean-Japanese Hong Yoo-soon becomes ‘Rookie of the Year’ in women’s professional basketball after 4 months
‘National Treasure Center’ Park Ji-soo surpasses record… “I’ve been playing a lot these days and getting a lot of attention.
‘I feel like I am a Korean WKBL player’… ‘Rookie of the Year – National Team’ aims to go to Korea
Team atmosphere rebounded in the last 4 games… I’m also worried about losing my senses during the All-Star break.
Hong Yu-sun (19, Shinhan Bank), the biggest hit of the 2024-2025 season women’s professional basketball (WKBL), can be said to be someone who ‘suddenly popped out’ to fans. Hong Yu-soon, a rookie this season, has scored double-digit points and double-digit rebounds in four consecutive games. At the same time, Park Ji-soo (26, Galatasaray), who has been called a ‘national treasure center’ since his high school days, broke the record for the most consecutive ‘double-doubles’ by a rookie (3 games) set in the 2016-2017 season.
Hong Yu-sun, a Korean in Japan, was a player who had never played basketball in front of fans until four months ago. This is because before coming to WKBL, he had only played in the Japanese university league as a member of Osaka Sangyo University and had no professional experience. The only people in the stands at the gym where Hong Yu-soon played were people she knew just across the bridge, including her parents and her friend’s parents.
Then, Shinhan Bank, which had the first overall pick in the rookie draft, offered Hong Yoo-sun to go to Korea, and his ‘Korean dream’ began. Among the draft participants, Hong Yoo-soon, who said “my goal is to become Rookie of the Year and the national team” after his name was called first, seems to have virtually confirmed his win as Rookie of the Year by recording double-doubles in consecutive games.
Hong Yoo-soon, whom we met at the Shinhan Bank Blue Campus training center in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 23rd during the All-Star break, said, “Until the beginning of the season, it didn’t even feel real that I was playing in Korea, but these days, as I play a lot of games and receive attention, I am realizing, ‘I am a Korean WKBL player.’” I laughed.
He added, “Recently, as my playing time has increased, my sense of the game has improved, but I am worried that my sense of play will decrease if I rest during the All-Star break.” Shinhan Bank was at the bottom with a season record of 2 wins and 9 losses until the 1st, but managed to bounce back with 3 wins and 1 loss in the last four games in which Hong Yu-soon recorded double-doubles in consecutive games.
Hong Yu-sun played more than 35 minutes in all of the last five games. In particular, during the match against BNK on the 9th, he played for all 40 minutes without resting even for a second. Hong Yu-sun said, “In Japan, I played for the full 40 minutes without substitution. “I am confident in my physical strength,” he said. “I am confident that I will be able to play for the full 40 minutes from now on.”
Hong Yu-sun visited the WKBL rookie draft site in 2017 when he was a middle school student. Hong Yu-sun said, “At the time, a Korean-Japanese who was working as a basketball agent in Japan said, ‘There are Korean-Japanese players in WKBL as well. He brought me here saying, ‘You too can take on the challenge.’ “That was the first time I found out that WKBL existed.”
At the time of the draft, Hwang Mi-woo (33) was selected by Samsung Life Insurance as the 5th overall player and became the first Korean-Japanese player in the WKBL. Hwang Mi-woo, who played as a player from the 2020 to 2021 season, is currently working as an interpretation manager at Shinhan Bank. Manager Hwang is also in charge of interpreting the interview with Hong Yoo-sun, who is not good at Korean. Hong Yu-sun said, “At that time, I never thought I could become a professional player. “It feels like a miracle to be able to meet again on the same team as (Hwang Mi-woo), who I saw back then,” he said.
Last year, Hong Yu-sun also had a little experience with representing the national team, which was one of the reasons for her trip to Korea. Hong Yu-sun, who mainly played 3-on-3 basketball in Japan, worked out for two weeks at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village as a training partner for the Korean national team players preparing to participate in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 3-on-3 Asian Cup last year. Hong Yu-soon said, “Until then, I didn’t know I could play as a player in Korea. “I think it will be a really new feeling if I become a real member of the national team and go to Jincheon again,” he said.
WKBL, which invited the Japanese women’s professional basketball all-star team and played the All-Star Game on the 22nd in the format of a Korea-Japan match, will continue its season schedule from the new year. Hong Yu-soon will challenge for a double-double in five consecutive games through the Hana Bank match on the 2nd of next month.
Yongin = Reporter Lim Bomi [email protected]
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