Volleyball, which competes with a high net, is one of the sports most affected by height. In particular, height is a very important position for middle blockers who are responsible for fast attack and blocking in the center of the net. The reason why Mongolian Yue Le Hung Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers, the No. 1 player in the 2022-2023 season’s rookie draft, is receiving a lot of attention from volleyball fans despite his short skills is that Yue Le Hung is a promising player with the biggest height in the V League history at 196 centimeters.
In fact, most middle blockers, who are currently playing as main players in seven V-League clubs, have a large height of more than 180cm. Some players, such as Yang Hyo-jin Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate and Jung Ho-young Red Sparks, Chung Kwan-jang, are 190 centimeters tall. Although Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders’ Asian quarter Raina Tokoku is performing well in the center with a height of 177 centimeters, Raina is a player who plays as a “temporary” middle blocker due to injuries to key players such as Lee Ju-ah and Kim Chae-yeon.
However, the player who is ranked No. 1 in blocking this season, beating Yang Hyo-jin 0.86 per set and Jung Ho-young 0.77 per set, who is 190 centimeters tall in the women’s V League, is less than 180 centimeters tall, let alone 190 centimeters tall. In addition, it has been only three years since he played as a middle blocker in earnest as a player who played outside heater and apogit spy in high school. Choi Jung-min of IBK Industrial Bank Altos, who is leading the generational change of middle blockers with a small height of 179 centimeters, is the main character.
Choi Jungmin joined the professional league as a wing striker 토토사이트
Last season, the blocking section of the V League women’s team was more outstanding than any other season. Han Su-ji GS Caltex KIXX, who was born in February 1989, started her professional career in 2006, recorded 0.83 blocks per set and ranked first in the blocking category for the first time since her professional debut. Bae Yuna and Jung Dae-young GS Caltex, who led Korea Expressway Corporation’s High Pass to win the championship, also showed “the power of a veteran” with 0.77 blocks per set.
Yang Hyo-jin, the best middle blocker in the V League history, who has been the “blocking queen” 12 times in his career, including the No. 1 blocker for 11 consecutive seasons, ranked fourth with 0.74 per set. And Kim Soo-ji, who has been Yang Hyo-jin’s longtime national team partner and has been active in Heungkuk Life since this season, ranked fifth with 0.69 per set. None of the top five blocking players were born after 1990. The veterans’ performance was great, but considering the generational change of middle blockers, it was not something to be happy about.
Young players in their early and mid-20s were concentrated between 6th and 10th in the blocking category. And among them, Choi Jung-min of the Industrial Bank of Korea, who was ninth in the blocking category 0.54 per set, was the youngest player born in December 2002 and the shortest player 179 cm. Of course, Choi Jung-min was just one of the most common middle blocker prospects in the league, as Choi Jung-min’s personal performance was not very prominent at that time, and the Industrial Bank of Korea was also ranked sixth among the seven clubs.
Choi Jung-min showed off his recognized offense on the high school stage as he has been the main striker of the team since 2019, when he was a second grader at Hanbom High School, leading the national championship to three gold medals. Like most of the high school aces with good height and attack, Choi Jung-min was exempted from receiving subscriptions in high school, but he showed a clear attack. However, in the 2020-2021 season’s rookie draft, he was selected by the Industrial Bank of Korea as the third overall pick, behind Kim Ji-won GS Caltex and Lee Sun-woo Chief of the Cabinet.
When Choi Jung-min joined the professional league, the Industrial Bank of Korea had a seasoned and experienced middle blocker duo consisting of Kim Soo-ji and Kim Hee-jin. However, Choi Jung-min could not play as the main apogit spy, beating foreign player Anna Lazareva Beijing BAIC Motor. Choi Jung-min’s only performance in the rookie season was in the final regular league match against GS Caltex on March 12, 2021, when he played instead of Lazareva and scored the most 13 points in the team.
Industrial Bank of Korea’s Key Middle Blocker
After the 2020-2021 season, Choi Ga-eun Doro Gongsas moved to Pepper Savings Bank, a new team, Choi Jung-min played as a middle blocker in the 2021 Cup tournament and showed not bad performances. Choi Jung-min, who played as a backup for Rebecca Rasem ASP Tetis after the opening of the V League, took an unexpected opportunity as a foreign player at the Industrial Bank of Korea was replaced by Santana. New coach Kim Ho-chul moved Kim Hee-jin to Apogit Spiker and appointed Choi Jung-min as a middle blocker to strengthen his offense.
Choi Jung-min, who scored 116 points in 28 games in the 2021-2022 season and became the main middle blocker of Industrial Bank of Korea, strengthened his position by scoring 227 points in all 36 regular league games last season. In the middle of the season, he participated in the All-Star Game for the first time in his life as a professional committee recommendation and performed a joint ceremony with his younger brother, Choi Hyo-seo Libero, who is active in Jeonggwanjang, receiving cheers from volleyball fans.
At the end of last season, middle blocker Kim Soo-ji left the team and hired outside heater Hwang Min-kyung. For foreign players and Asian quarters, apogit spiker Brittney Abercrombie and setter Ponfun Gedfard were named, respectively. While the attack power of both wings became stronger and the setter’s experience was added, the power of the center was greatly weakened due to Kim Hee-jin’s surgery and Kim Soo-ji’s transfer. In other words, Choi Jung-min’s role in the middle blocker line of Industrial Bank of Korea has grown even greater.
Choi Jung-min is playing as the main middle blocker of the Industrial Bank of Korea this season, while Kim Hee-jin, the star of the Industrial Bank of Korea, has yet to recover his full condition after undergoing knee surgery in February. The 36.7% attack success rate is difficult to be satisfied as a middle blocker, but 0.87 blocks per set is the number one in the league. In addition, Choi Jung-min also has 74 effective blocking blocking leading to our team’s attack the most in the league.
As of the 20th, Industrial Bank of Korea is in fifth place with four wins and six losses and 11 points in 10 games. The performance is somewhat disappointing compared to the evaluation that Abercrombie, Ponfun, and Hwang Min-kyung succeeded in reinforcing their power. However, the Industrial Bank of Korea still has an important card called “Kim Hee-jin’s Return.” If middle blocker Kim Hee-jin, who was competing for the top of the league in the 2010s, recovers his condition and combines with Choi Jung-min, who grew up in a storm this season, the IBK’s power can be upgraded again.