Korea eyes 2nd place in Asiad

Park Soon-ho, a corporate executive and sports administrator recently named the chief South Korean delegate to this year’s Asian Games at home, on Friday offered a realistic goal for the host country.“We have finished second in the medals in the past four Asian Games in a row, and our objective is to rank in second place again,” Park said at a press conference held at the National Training Center in Seoul. “We hope to win more than 90 gold medals.” Korea has played second fiddle to China in ever

More SportsJuly 18, 2014

Korea to schedule two friendlies

South Korea will play two football friendly matches in September in preparation for a major continental competition set for early next year, an official with the national football governing body said Friday, with Uruguay and Venezuela as potential opponents.“We’re preparing for two matches in September, and two more matches each in October and November,” an official at the Korea Football Agency said. “Our plan is to play six matches over the rest of this year in preparation for the Asian Cup (in

SoccerJuly 18, 2014

Park Tae-hwan sets national mark

GIMCHEON (Yonhap) ― South Korean swimming star Park Tae-hwan set a national record in the 200-meter individual medley on Thursday, qualifying for the upcoming Asian Games in the process.At the South Korean national team trials held in Gimcheon, Park won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:00.31. He shed 0.10 second off the previous record, set by Kim Min-gyu in December 2009.The winners of each race here will qualify for this year’s Asian Games.The individual medley event requires a swimm

More SportsJuly 17, 2014

Familiar face back on top with high-scoring clubs in pursuit

It’s deja vu all over again in the top South Korean baseball league as it enters the All-Star break, with a familiar face sitting pretty in first place despite recent hiccups.The Samsung Lions, the three-time defending champs of the Korea Baseball Organization, are at the top of the standings in the nine-team league at 49 wins, 27 losses and two draws. They’re 3 1/2 games ahead of the Nexen Heroes, despite losing the final four games of the first half.The Heroes, who made their first postseason

BaseballJuly 17, 2014

New kids on the block

HOYLAKE, England (AP) ― Even when he’s not the favorite, Tiger Woods is still the show at the British Open.Woods earned that attention by piling up majors at a faster rate than anyone in history, and the attention is just as great now because his recent past includes back surgery and his immediate future is more uncertain than ever. ESPN plans to show his entire round online Thursday.Not to be overlooked at golf’s oldest championship, however, is a new generation of stars.Rickie Fowler and Harri

GolfJuly 17, 2014

South Koreans want foreigner to coach men's football team: poll

More than four in 10 South Koreans would rather have a foreign coach take over their men's national football team than a local figure, a poll showed Thursday.Gallup Korea said in its survey of 681 adults, 43 percent said they'd like to see a foreign national lead the football team, compared with 39 percent who said they wanted a South Korean at the helm.The job has been vacant since last Thursday, when former national team captain Hong Myung-bo resigned in the wake of the country's subpar perfor

SoccerJuly 17, 2014

Park books Asiad spot in 200-meter freestyle

GIMCHEON (Yonhap) ― South Korean swimming star Park Tae-hwan on Wednesday booked a spot in the men’s 200-meter freestyle race in the upcoming Asian Games with the world-leading time of the year.At the South Korean national team trials held in Gimcheon, Park finished the race in 1:45.25.It’s the fastest time in the men’s 200-meter freestyle this year, bettering Australian swimmer Cameron McEvoy’s time of 1:45.58.The winners of each race here will qualify for the Asian Games.

More SportsJuly 16, 2014

Danish coach emerges as early candidate for Korea job

A relatively unknown Danish football coach has emerged as an early, unlikely candidate for the vacant South Korean national team head coaching position, though the sport’s governing body remains lukewarm about his interest.The Danish sports paper Tipsbladet reported online on Tuesday that Michael Schjonberg, a 47-year-old assistant coach of the Norwegian club Valerenga, has been approached by South Korea about the top national team position.Hong Myung-bo resigned as the South Korean bench boss l

SoccerJuly 16, 2014

Korea won’t face Japan in friendly

South Korea will not face its archrival Japan in a soccer friendly match this year, the national governing body of the sport said Wednesday, rejecting a series of recent media reports out of Tokyo.“The Japanese papers have been reporting that South Korea and Japan will play each other in a friendly this year,” an official at the Korea Football Association said Thursday. “But we have absolutely no plans to face Japan this year.” This was the second time this month that the KFA has had to refute J

SoccerJuly 16, 2014

Ex-MLB hitter Luke Scott waived by SK Wyverns after heated exchange with manager

Former Major League Baseball player Luke Scott was released by his South Korean club SK Wyverns on Wednesday following a heated exchange with his manager in public.The Wyverns said they have placed the 36-year-old veteran on the waivers a day after Scott got into a verbal spat with his manager Lee Man-soo. Their exchange took place on the field at the Wyverns' home Munhak Stadium in Incheon, hours before they were to host the Hanwha Eagles.Scott, with 135 career homers in the majors and three co

BaseballJuly 16, 2014

[World Cup] Blatter gives Brazil 9.25 of 10

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― Brazil got 9.25 out of 10 from FIFA President Sepp Blatter for organizing a World Cup that was “very special” because of high quality football.Giving his tournament report on Monday, Blatter also criticized FIFA for not better tackling incidents of fan discrimination in stadiums. Blatter said he spoke with Russia President Vladimir Putin at Sunday’s final about making the issue a priority at the 2018 World Cup there.That tournament will be the third straight involving a hug

SoccerJuly 15, 2014

Europe-based footballers rumored to be on move

With the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil in the books and the summer transfer window fully open in European club football, some South Korean players are being rumored to be on the move.Ki Sung-yueng, under contract with Swansea City in English Premier League, is being linked to Aston Villa. Mirror reported that Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert wants “an experienced holding midfielder” and hopes to acquire Ki from Swansea City, where he has one year left on his contract.Daily Mail also said Villa h

SoccerJuly 15, 2014

[World Cup] World Cup a wakeup call for Korea’s youth development

RIO DE JANEIRO ― With the recent resignation of coach Hong Myung-bo and the exit of Luis Scolari after the utter destruction of his squad in the World Cup’s final stages, it’s been a dramatic few days both in Korea and Brazil as their football associations scramble for answers on how to fix it all.Humiliating defeats ― Korea to Algeria 4-2 in the group round and Brazil to Germany 7-1 in the semifinals ― exposed their squads’ weaknesses as overly dependent on star players with vulnerable defenses

SoccerJuly 15, 2014