[Asian Games] Thailand National Hockey Team Coach Kim Jeong-cheol Says,
“We will do our Best to Aim for the Quarterfinals”
The Thai women’s national team also has Korean coach Bae Young-wook at the helm.
“The top six in Asia are so strong, so I came to this tournament with the goal of getting to the quarterfinals.”
In multi-sport competitions such as the Olympics or Asian Games,
it is common for Korean leaders to lead foreign teams in archery, taekwondo, etc.
The same goes for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games,
which opened on the 23rd, and on the 24th,
a Korean coach appeared on the bench of the Thailand men’s hockey team. 스포츠토토
Kim Jeong-cheol
The protagonist is coach Kim Jeong-cheol, who won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Coach Kim Jeong-cheol began his career as a coach abroad when he was dispatched to Sri Lanka in February 2022 to participate in the Korea Sports Council’s sports development support project for developing countries.
Coach Kim Jeong-cheol, who was also a gold medalist at the 2002 Busan Asian Games,
moved to the Thailand national team in May of this year.
He was an unwavering defender of the national team during his active years,
also had experience holding the microphone as a TV commentator at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Thailand lost 0-9 to Malaysia in the first match of Group B of the men’s group stage of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games hockey held at Gungsu Canal Sports Park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China on the 24th.
National Team
Coach Kim Jeong-cheol, who met after the game, acknowledged the difference in skill,
saying, “Malaysia is a strong team, and our players lack experience as the older players are 25 years old and the younger players are 16 and 17 years old.”
Coach Kim Jeong-cheol, who has been in charge of the national team for about three months,
said, “In Sri Lanka, I was able to communicate with the players in English to some extent,
but in Thailand, that part is a bit difficult.
I am learning Thai, but I am still a beginner, so communication is a bit difficult. “I can’t do it,” he said.
Coach Kim, who retired from the national team after playing in the 2004 Athens Olympics and appeared in the Asian Games for the first time in 21 years since the 2002 Busan Games,
said, “I played in Malaysia as a player, and there is no special food,
so I don’t have any difficulties staying in Thailand.”
Bae Young-wook
Bae Young-wook, the coach of the women’s national team, has been with us for over 10 years, but I am just starting out,” he said with a laugh.
He answered that his goal for this tournament was “the quarterfinals.”
In Asia, Korea, Malaysia, India, Japan, China, and Pakistan have better power than other countries, so it is realistic to compete for the next place in the ‘big six’.
Coach Kim explained, “If you look at the rankings, even if you exclude the top 6 teams,
countries like Bangladesh and Oman are stronger than us,” and added,
“It would have been nice if we had scored a goal against Malaysia today,
but we have a goal of being in the top 8 in the remaining games.”
“I will work hard with the players,” he said.