2024-04-01 18:15:46
The media’s attention is focused on Japanese Go prodigy Sumire Nakamura (14‧hereafter Sumire), who is the youngest player to join the team and holds the record as the youngest winner, to advance into the Korean league.
The archipelago’s interest in Sumire Nakamura (14‧hereinafter referred to as Sumire), a Japanese baduk prodigy who announced his intention to advance to the Korean league, is hot. About 20 reporters from Japan alone, including broadcasters, visited Seoul to produce a documentary.
Sumire 3rd Dan said at an official press conference held at the Korea Kiwon in Seongdong-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 4th, “Yesterday, when I played my first match in Korea, I realized, ‘I have now started my activities in earnest.'” He added, “There are many skilled knights in Korea. “I feel anxious because of this, but I will work hard,” he said, expressing his determination to advance to the Korean stage.
About 20 Japanese reporters attended the press conference that day, most of whom had been with Sumire since the day before.
According to a Korean official, a large number of Japanese reporters also flocked to the Sawpalcosanol top knight match between Sumire 3-dan and Lee Chang-seok 9-dan held at the K Baduk Studio in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province the previous day. At that time, the match was Sumire 9th Dan’s debut match on the Korean stage.
Sumire 3rd Dan started playing Baduk at the age of three under the influence of his father Shinya Nakamura 9th Dan. He came to Korea in 2017 and studied for about two years, improving his skills day by day.
Accordingly, in 2019, he entered the professional ranks as the first member of the special recruitment system for gifted students newly established by Nihon Kiwon, breaking the record of the youngest member to join 6th dan Fujisawa Rina (11 years and 6 months).
Sumire 3rd Dan, who has been on a roll since becoming a professional baduk player, won the 26th Yeoryugiseongjeon in February last year, setting the milestone of becoming the youngest person to win the title. Based on these results, Sumire 3rd Dan ranked 8th with the most prize money among Japanese knights last year.
Sumire 3rd Dan, seeking growth, took on the challenge of appearing on the Korean stage by submitting an application for a guest article to the Korea Foundation in August last year. It was a choice for his own development because the current Korean Baduk is stronger than Japanese Baduk.
Even in Japan, Sumire 3rd Dan, who was called a ‘gifted child’, is showing great interest in going to Korea. Some Japanese reporters have been watching Sumire’s every move since they entered Korea together with him on the 28th of last month when he boarded the plane to Korea.
An official from Kiwon said, “Major Japanese media outlets, including NHK, Fuji TV, Yomiuri Shimbun, and Mainichi Shimbun, showed great interest in Sumire 9th Dan and attended the press conference. This is unusual.” He added, “After the official press conference schedule for Sumire 3rd Dan was confirmed, Japan “We received many inquiries from the media. More reporters came than expected. I heard that a documentary for Sumire 3 Dan is also being produced,” he explained.
An official from the Baduk world said, “This is the first time that foreign media has shown so much interest in reporting on Baduk since the match between the artificial intelligence (AI) AlphaGo and Lee Sedol, 9th dan, in 2015.”
Sumire 3rd Dan, which is receiving a lot of attention, announced its plan to grow quickly and without haste.
Sumire 3rd Dan said, “I plan to stay in Korea for about 5 years. I will cherish every day and work harder than I do now to rise to second place in the female knight rankings.” She added, “I will improve the details while working in Korea and work on areas where I was weak in the second half.” “I will do my best to get better,” he said.
Furthermore, his challenge is expected to have a new impact on Japanese Baduk, as Sumire’s three words say, “International exchange is important. I hope that in the future, Korean and Japanese Baduk will develop each other by learning from each other’s strengths.” Leo Fujita Chodan is already planning to study in Korea next month.
Reporter Kim Won-geun photo provided by Korea Times
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2024-04-01 18:15:46