“I’ve been a professional player for 13 years, but I haven’t had a broadcast interview after the game yet.”
In the 2010-2011 V-League male rookie draft, Jung Sung-min of Korean Air wore a LIG Insurance (now KB Insurance) uniform as the third pick in the first round. He was Jeong Seong-min, who was highly anticipated as he was the first Libero to be nominated in the first round.
Jung Seong-min, who started gaining experience by participating in 29 games from his debut season, went through LIG Insurance and Hyundai Capital and wore a Korean Air uniform from the 2017-2018 season.
Jeong Seong-min, who immediately took the place as the main player of Korean Air, participated in 34 games and 130 sets, achieving a receiving efficiency of 36.92% and 1.923 digs per set, taking charge of the team defense and winning the championship match.
Afterwards, in the 2020-2021 season, the team recorded a combined championship, but Jung Sung-min himself suffered from a herniated disc and only played 9 games. However, he came back the following season and played in 22 matches and 84 sets, helping to win the unification for the second consecutive year.
And Jeong Seong-min, who was aiming for a combined championship for three consecutive years, could not start the 2022-2023 season together. Jeong Seong-min, who conducted a telephone interview with <The Spike>, said, “I injured his left ankle ligament 10 years ago, but at the time I was young, so I endured with strength and continued to work out against him. Then he sprained his ankle during training last September and went to the hospital and he said he would need surgery to continue playing.”
Jeong Seong-min had an experience of being absent due to a herniated disc in the past. It was his second surgery after back surgery, but he felt completely different. “When I had back surgery, it felt like a challenge. He had the thought that he would be able to do it again.” Then, “This time, at first, I thought, ‘Should I retire? Still, since I can do it around me, he told me to prepare so that I can help the team, so I decided to try again.”
Coach Tommy Tilikhainen also helped Jung Sung-min return to the court as quickly as possible. “The coach knows that he quit early due to a back injury when he was in high school. That’s why the players help me to exercise for a long time,” he said. “In fact, the hospital said to do surgery if it didn’t work after a month of treatment, but the coach told me to just do the surgery and come back as soon as possible, so I went ahead with the surgery.”
After the operation, Jeong Seong-min had to watch his team’s game alone on TV, not in the field. He is Jeong Seong-min, a senior who worried about his younger siblings such as Eun-ryeol Oh and Ji-hoon Park rather than regret that he could not play.
Jeong Seong-min said, “Eun-ryeol and Ji-hoon did well, but I was so sorry that I couldn’t help them when their performance was not good. In fact, Korean Air’s libero has long been considered a weakness. Even now, such talk is coming out. So I told my juniors not to pay too much attention to it because I heard it when I was running.”
In particular, Jung Sung-min paid more attention to Park Ji-hoon, who took his place. “At the beginning of the season, Ji-hoon came and said that it was too difficult and that volleyball was difficult. So if you put up with it, you can grow. We all know how difficult our team is with the Libero. But if we do well, we can win, so I said let’s work hard.” 메이저사이트
And after a long rehabilitation, Jeong Seong-min played the first game and return match of this season at the Dodram 2022-2023 V-League 4th round KB Insurance match held at Uijeongbu Indoor Gymnasium on the 24th.
It is Jung Sung-min who felt rather burdened because Korean Air was continuing a good flow. “It was a time when my stamina would drop. Coach Choi Bu-sik wanted me to go in and change the atmosphere. However, if I joined and lost after I was doing well, I could be told that I lost because of me, so there was a lot of pressure.”
The situation that Jung Sung-min was anxious about happened to reality. On this day, Korean Air lost 0-3 to KB Insurance. Jeong Seong-min said, “I was excited because it was a long time ago. However, it often came out that he was tangled or overlapped with the players. I thought I had to adapt quickly,” recalling the comeback.
Although Jeong Seong-min lost in the return match, he said, “I was upset, but I try to think that it is better to be beaten first. I will try to show a good figure as soon as possible,” he said, thinking as positively as possible.
Korean Air, joined by a veteran libero named Jung Sung-min, is about to start flying again after the All-Star break. Jeong Seong-min said, “The goal for this season is, of course, to win the championship game. And personally, I have no greed for FA (free agent). I just want to finish without getting hurt for the rest of the period.”
Lastly, Jung Sung-min announced that he had one more goal. He said, “I have been in his 13th year as a professional player, but I have not yet had an interview with a broadcaster after the game. Korea Electric Power Corporation (Shin) Yeong-seok said he would buy you a present if he interviewed you at a broadcasting station. He said, “I really want to try it once before the season is over.”