Lee Yun-hwa works a miracle for Korean squad
Lee Yun-hwa works a miracle for Korean squad
Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta
Most people would agree that the highlight of the 2004 Uber
Cup was the semifinal match between Denmark and South Korea on
Thursday night when the two sides needed five and a half hours to
decide the winner.
It was the South Koreans who finally booked a place in the
final against defending champion China, thanks largely to an
outstanding performance by 18 year-old Lee Yun-hwa.
Just when Denmark looked like it was going to be victorious
with a 2-0 lead after two matches were completed, Lee provided
salvation by trouncing Camilla Sorensen 11-1, 11-7.
Lee was then back on court for the second time to team up with
Lee Kyung-won in a thrilling fifth match in which the Koreans
incredibly overturned a 2-9 deficit against Mette Schjoldager and
Penille Harder to narrowly scrape home as the winner.
Korean team manager Kim Jung-soo said it was a miracle for the
Koreans to beat Denmark 3-2 and advance to the final, especially
given that the team members had originally believed they would
only get as far as the semifinals.
He said they expected to go down to the Danes 2-3 until Lee
Yun-hwa saved the day by contributing two points.
During the ongoing Uber Cup, Lee is playing both singles and
doubles, with Kim saying that it has yet to be seen which event
is more suitable for her.
"We have been testing her as we have yet to decide whether she
will specialize in singles or doubles," Kim said, while hailing
his protege as a future star.
A very shy girl, Lee said that she was very happy to win two
points for Korea.
"Today was a wonderful experience for me and I will do my best
to improve my performance even more in the future," she said
after the match.
Lee got the chance of playing in the doubles after Ra Kyung-
min, one of the more experienced players on the regular Korean
team, was injured.
"It appears that the team wants me to play doubles as well."
Born in Kangwondo on Nov. 14, 1985, Lee said that she started
playing badminton when she was 9.
The youngest of four sisters, Lee joined the national team
when she was 15 and now trains at the Taeneung national training
center, practicing six hours a day, seven days a week.
Her hard work in training paid dividends on Thursday. Her win
over Sorensen inspired Lee Hyo-jung and Hwang Yu-mi to defeat
Rikke Olsen and Ann-Lou Jorgensen 10-15, 15-6, 15-17 to even the
score at 2-2.
With the Korean-Denmark encounter going to a decider, dozens
of die hard badminton fans were on tenterhooks watching the
do-or-die last doubles match between the two sides.
After sharing the first two games, the Danes looked set for a
win when they took a formidable 9-2 lead in the third game.
Miraculously, the Korean pair clawed their way back before
eventually taking a 12-9 lead in just one service turn, with Lee
Yun-hwa contributing the most points with her lethal jump smashes
and neatly placed strokes over the net.
After conceding one point, the Koreans went on to take the
game, the match and a ticket against China in the final on
Saturday.
Lee Yun-hwa, and the whole Korean team, may have had the odds
staked against them in the final against defending champion
China, but they could be forgiven for asking for another miracle
to overturn the odds.