Yoon Chae-young may not have won much on the golf course, but she excels at winning the modeling competition for the Korean LPGA:
Golfer Yoon Chae-young was picked to serve as a face of the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association for the eighth straight year on Thursday.
Yoon is the only golfer to have served in the role continuously since 2009. Kim Ha-neul, Kim Hye-youn and Kim Char-young each modeled for six years, while Ahn Shin-ae and Yang Soo-jin both did the job for five years.
The association picks models through a voting process from among the top 60 earners on the golfing money list, with KLPGA members, journalists and representatives of tour sponsors casting ballots. This process requires that golfers be both exceptionally talented and popular to be selected. [Chosun Ilbo]
South Korea is far from being the first country to naturalize foreign born athletes to bolster their Olympic teams:
From left, Eric Regan, Matt Dalton, Anna Frolina and Alexander Starodubets
Naturalized citizens will represent Korea at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.
Two Canadian-born ice hockey players, Matt Dalton and Eric Regan, and two Russian-born biathletes, Alexander Starodubets and Anna Frolina, have acquired Korean citizenship, the Justice Ministry said on Thursday.
The Korean nationality law allows people with special talents in specific areas such as science, culture and sports to be fast-tracked to citizenship.
Dalton, 30, and Regan, 28, who play for Korean ice hockey club Anyang Halla, previously made names for themselves playing in Europe. Their addition to the team means there are now six naturalized players on the national ice hockey squad.
Starodubets and Frolina will be the first naturalized Koreans to represent the country in the biathlon. Starodubets, who was a member of the Russian junior national team, chose to represent Korea because it would give him more opportunities to compete. [Chosun Ilbo]
It looks like whatever team the US military put together for the international military Olympics currently being held in South Korea wasn’t very good:
The K-league football club Sangju Sangmu has defeated the United States 7-0 in its opening match of 2015 CISM World Games Korea, an international sports event for military service members.
Sangmu, the sports division of South Korea’s military, overwhelmed the American team in the first Group A match of football on Wednesday in Moongyeong, North Gyeongsang Province.
Forward Cho Don-gun and midfielder Lee Seung-ki scored two goals each for the host team.
The 2015 CISM World Games officially kick off on Friday and continue until October 11. About 73-hundred soldiers from some 120 countries will participate in the international sports event, which will be held in eight cities and counties. [KBS World Radio]
For all you basketball fans out there, Shaq will be in Korea this week promoting Reebok:
Retired NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal will arrive in Korea on Aug. 19 to promote sportswear giant Reebok and star in a local TV show.
O’Neal, who is a long-term pitchman for Reebok, will appear at a hand-printing event at the brand’s Apgujeong store on Aug. 20 and travel to Busan a day later to celebrate the opening of a new Reebok store.
In Busan, he will be hosted by Seo Jang-hoon, a former basketball star-turned-TV personality, in a talk show and also join Shin Soo-ji, a rhythmic gymnast-turned-professional bowler, to participate in a “fitness challenge” event.
He will also appear in a local TV show, titled “Off to School.” [Korea Times]
Considering all the other Korean athletes that have gotten out of military service due to their sporting accomplishments, I am a bit surprised a golfer ranked 23rd on the PGA tour did not get a deferment:
Bae Sang-Moon said Wednesday he plans to play the rest of the PGA Tour season before submitting to his mandatory military service in South Korea.
Bae was denied an extension of his visa at the start of the year and challenged it in court. Yonhap news service said Bae lost his legal battle to have his mandatory service deferred. The debate was whether Bae had spent enough time out of South Korea last year.
“I completely respect the court’s decision, and I humbly accept the judgment by the law,” he told Yonhap. “I am sorry to those who have supported me, including all my fans and South Koreans, for causing anxiety.”
The 29-year-old Bae is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, including the season-opening Frys.com Open last October. He was hopeful that victory would help him make the Presidents Cup team because the matches will be played this year for the first time in South Korea.
Bae is No. 23 in the standings, and only the top 10 qualify. [Associated Press]
