KOR – Jung Sun-min to spearhead champions Korea, yet again

CHENNAI (23rd FIBA Asia Women Championship) - Forward Jung Sun-min will enter her 15th year in FIBA Asia senior competitions when she leads defending champions Korea on to the court at the 23rd FIBA Asia Women Championship.

Coach Lim Dal Shik has included eight players who took Korea to the quarterfinals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but will count on the Shinhan Bank S-Birds veteran to take Korea on the top of the podium.

Jung Sun-min, returning to the National Team after a five-year gap then, had helped Korea to win the gold – and thus a place in Beijing Olympics – in the 22nd FIBA Asia Championship for Women at Incheon two years ago.

Giving Jung Sun-min company will be six others – including the giant centre Ha Eun-joo and sharpshooter Beon Yeon-ha – who formed a part of the Incheon triumph.

Having made her debut for the senior National Team as way back as 1994 in the 12th FIBA World Championship for Women, Jung Sun-min has returned a consistent double-digit average in points in all her subsequent appearances for Korea.

The high point of her career came when she spearheaded Korea to the semifinals of the 2000 Sydney Olympics (with a 13.9 PPG average) and the 2002 FIBA World Championship for Women (14.8 PPG).

She was subsequently dropped from the team but made a strong comeback into the National squad with a team-high 15.7 PPG to lead Korea to the gold medal in the 22nd FIBA Asia Championship for Women at Incheon.

Scoring almost in double-digits in all the games for an average of 11.3 PPG, Jung Sun-min was at the forefront yet again as Korea entered the last eight at the Beijing Olympics last year.

More recently, the 34-year-old led the Shinhan Bank S-Birds to victory at the 2009 William Jones competition beating the Chinese Taipei National team by a lop-sided 67-48 margin in the final.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia