Woo Hee-jun: The Inspiring Journey of a Female Kabaddi National Team Member

Women’s Kabaddi national team member Woo Hee-jun./Instagram

The splendid specifications of Woo Hee-jun (29), a female national representative participating in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games kabaddi event, are becoming a hot topic.

Kabaddi, originated from India, is a mixed sport of tag and martial arts, played by two teams of seven players each. A point is scored when an offensive player enters the opposing half, touches or holds a defender, and returns to his own half. When the striker crosses over to the opponent’s half, he has to repeatedly shout ‘Kavadi’ (Hindi for holding his breath).

Woo Hee-jun wears the Taegeuk mark and challenges for a medal in this event whose name is unfamiliar. After graduating from high school, Woo Hee-jun joined the Korea Tourism Organization and worked as an interpreter for six months before resigning and traveling to India to experience the wider world. It is said that he nurtured his dream of becoming a national representative here by playing kabaddi on the streets with his children. After his return to Korea, he contacted the Kabaddi Association in Busan and began training, entering his player’s path.

Woo Hee-jun made his first appearance as a national representative at the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games in 2018. Although he did not win a medal at the time, he finished fifth, his best ever finish at the event.

Woo Hee-joon has a unique background as a former Miss Korea school district officer (ROTC). After entering the University of Ulsan in 2016, he applied for the 2019 Miss Korea pageant through the prank of his juniors, but was selected as the first candidate after breaking through the competition rate of 700:1. After that, he also participated as a representative of Korea in the international beauty contest ‘Miss Earth’. At the time of applying for Miss Korea, he was embarrassed by the pranks of his juniors, but it is known that he decided to participate because he thought that he could promote Kabaddi, an unpopular event.

Woo Hee-joon, the national Kabaddi representative from the 2019 Miss Korea line./Instagram

After graduating from Ulsan University, Woo Hee-jun was commissioned as the 59th ROTC in 2020. Since 2021 he has served in the Army Special Warfare Command’s International Peace Support Group. During this time, he also traveled to Lebanon as an interpreter officer. Even after his enlistment, he taught his platoon members about kabaddi, and was discharged as a lieutenant last June for his dream of becoming a national representative.

Woo Hee-jun, who returned to the national team after four years, is training hard in Busan with the goal of winning the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, which will open in September. The 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China was scheduled to be held in 2022, but was postponed in the aftermath of the coronavirus infection and will be held this year. It starts on the 23rd of this month and ends on the 8th of October.

2023-09-05 15:57:00

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