Kim Yeon-kyung’s Last Dance: Volleyball Icon Reflects on Career and Future as She Pursues Championship Glory

Losing the win despite being in first place in the regular season is disappointing.
Postponing retirement and extending active duty try again

‘defending champion’ Hyundai Engineering & Construction Yang Hyo-jin
There are only 40 blocks left until 1600 blocks are blocked.

The ‘Volleyball Empress’ Kim Yeon-kyung (36, Heungkuk Life Insurance, photo left), who was at the crossroads of expanding her active career and will retire after completing the last season, with her ‘last dance’ this season.

After winning the best women’s player (MVP) at the 2023-2024 season V-League awards ceremony held on April 8, Kim Yeon-kyung said, “I have decided to take on one more challenge because of my many fans next season. .” What caught Kim Yeon-kyung’s attention was his regret that he didn’t win. Heungkuk Life Insurance, who missed out on winning the championship despite taking first place in the regular league in the 2022-2023 season, did not win the championship in the 2023-2024 season either. They went through the playoffs in second place and reached the championship game, but were thwarted by Hyundai Engineering & Construction.

We are also drawing a picture of what we will do after you retire. Kim Yeon-kyung, while training in Shanghai, China in preparation for this season, said, “I am drawing different pictures about life after retirement, but the priorities are I have changed recently. “If my desire to be a leader after I retire was at the bottom in the past, recently,” she said, “The thought of wanting the players to teaching directly on the field and being a leader in charge of the team is slowly coming in,” he said.

Kim Yeon-kyung is still the best player in the league. Before the opening, they also did well in the cup competition which was held from the end of September to the beginning of this month. In three games, he placed first in this category with an attack success rate of 52.5%, showing his quality as the center of the team. However, Heungkuk Life Insurance was disappointed as they were eliminated from the preliminary round with 1 win and 2 losses in the group stage. However, Heungkuk Life Insurance is still considered a strong team in the new season. ‘Defending champion’ Hyundai Engineering & Construction has been named as the top three along with runner-up Cheong Kwan-Jang in the cup competition. Veteran setter Lee Go-eun and libero Shin Yeon-kyung were acquired through trades, while foreign player Tutku and Asian quarterback Anilis Peach were recruited to start a ‘new game’.

Yang Hyo-jin (35, right) of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, who aims to win again this season, is set to get 1,600 blocks, befitting her nickname ‘Block Queen.’ If you add just 40, you will build 1,600 monumental towers.

A player from Korean Air, the ‘defending champion’ of men’s volleyball, became the first player to win the all-time record of 20,000 sets in the men’s and women’s division by adding 1,114 successful sets. ‘Veteran’ Leo is also aiming to surpass Park Cheol-woo (6,623 points), who announced his retirement at the end of last season, and took the first role in career scoring. Leo, who was a member of OK Financial Group last season, will play for Hyundai Capital this season.