Kim Jin-young, who played in Spain, joined Incheon Urban Development Corporation and pledged to reach the top, scoring 20 points in 3 H-League games Ranked second in scoring, bulked up in Europe and returned to the Games-Olympics with stronger physical ability, but medal dreams disappeared “I am committed to winning my team”
Jinyoung Kim (Incheon Urban Development Corporation) is shooting in front of the camera at Namdong Gymnasium in Incheon on the 21st. Kim Jin-young, who played in Spain for two seasons and returned to Korea ahead of the 2023-2024 season, scored 20 points (second in the league) in three games and is leading the attack line of Incheon City Corporation, which is aiming to win the inaugural 'H League'. Jinyoung Kim said, “I have no desire for an individual title. “I want to help the team win,” he said.
Incheon City Corporation never won a championship during the SK Handball League (2011-2023). In the 2022-2023 season, which was the last of the SK League, Incheon City Corporation met with Doosan in the championship game (2 wins out of 3) and won the first game, but eventually lost the second and third games in succession. The SK League men's division ended in the 'Udu' league (Doosan won anyway), with Doosan winning 11 of the 12 seasons.
Ahead of this season, when handball was newly launched as the 'H-League', Incheon City Corporation took on the challenge of winning the inaugural championship by strengthening its strength by obtaining the first overall pick in the rookie draft. Kim Jin-young (23), who played for Spanish first division team Ademar León, also joined the team. Kim Jin-young, whom we met at the Namdong Gymnasium in Incheon where the team's training facility is located on the 21st, laughed and said, "I will make sure that the word 'awdu' will no longer be used in the H-League."
As of the 26th, Kim Jin-young has scored 20 points in 3 H-League games and is ranked 2nd in scoring in the men's division. Kim Jin-young, who scored 4 points against Hanam City Hall on the 12th, which was his H-League debut, scored 8 points each against Sangmu on the 18th and SK on the 25th. His shooting success rate is 71.43%, ranking second among the top five scorers. Thanks to Kim Jin-young's flawless performance, Incheon City Corporation is undefeated in 3 games (2 wins, 1 draw) and is ranked 2nd in the league after Doosan (3 wins).
Kim Jin-young has quick feet and is good at fighting, so he can easily beat one or two opposing defenders. Kim Jin-young, who is 185cm tall, was said to 'fly' because of her light movements when she was a student at Kyung Hee University and weighed 80kg. She increased her weight to 88 kg on stage in Spain and even improved her strength. Jinyoung Kim said, “The ‘physicality’ of Spanish league players is better than that of Korean players. He is as fast as Korea, but plays handball with more power. In order to survive there, he did not neglect to 'bulk up'. Thanks to that, it is not difficult for him to overcome the opponent's rough struggles and shoot shots,” he said.
Kim Jin-young, whose father Kim Joong-ki (55) was also a handball player, was considered a promising right-back (main striker) to succeed Yoon Kyeong-shin (50, Doosan coach), a senior at Kyunghee University and a college senior and a “legend.” Kim Jin-young made his name known on the world stage by scoring 39 goals in 6 games at the World Championships in January 2021, ranking 8th in scoring. And in October of the same year, when he was about to graduate from college, he entered the Spanish league. It has been 25 years since Kyung-shin Yoon joined Gummersbach (Germany) in 1996 that a Korean male handball player moved to the European stage immediately after graduating from college.
Kim Jin-young, who showed promise by scoring 76 points in 55 games over two seasons in Spain, chose to return to Korea in June of this year when the Spanish league schedule for the 2022-2023 season ended. Kim Jin-young said, “I received ‘love calls’ from the European team as well. However, European teams are not obligated to send players to the Asian Games. “He chose to return to Korea because he wanted to focus on preparing for the Hangzhou Asian Games and next year’s Paris Olympics,” he explained.
Kim Jin-young's two goals of returning to Korea as a national team player were all in vain as he failed to advance beyond the semifinals at the Asian Games and did not qualify for the Olympic finals. However, the goal of ‘winning the team’s championship’ is valid. Kim Jin-young said, “I prepared really hard (for the national team), but I felt angry and heartbroken because I felt like I couldn’t show my skills,” and added, “I want to make up for my disappointment by winning this season.” 스포츠토토맨