The first foreign setter in the women’s professional volleyball team was born.
IBK (IBK) Industrial Bank won the first choice in the 2023 V-League Women’s Asian Quarter Draft held at the Stanford Hotel in Mapo-gu, Seoul on the 21st and nominated Thai setter Fontun Gedpard (30). Phonpun, 173 cm tall, is the main setter for the Thai national team and was the biggest player in this draft.
“Thank you very much for nominating me,” said Ponpun. I want to learn a lot of mindset and mental aspects from director Kim Ho-cheol.” Coach Ho-cheol Kim played an active role in the same setter position as Ponpun during his active career. Ponpun also said, “I really like Korea,” and “I want to learn Korean and get along with my colleagues.”
This is the first time a foreign player has joined the V-League women’s team as a setter. In the men’s division, in the 2009-2010 season, Vlado Petkovic (Serbia) played an active role as a setter at Woori Capital.
Hyundai E&C, who received the second choice, also chose Thai. On this day, Hyundai E&C selected the 174cm tall outsight heater Wipawi Startup (24). Wipawi is a striker who played an active part in the Thai national team from 2017 to 2022.
Kageshi (KGC) Ginseng Corporation, who was nominated in the third place, selected Megawatti Puttiwi (24), an apositive spiker of the Indonesian national team, and Korea Expressway Corporation, in the fourth place, selected an apositive spiker Tanacha Sosuksot (23), also from Thailand. The 5th ranked Pepper Savings Bank nominated MJ Phillips (28), a middle blocker in the Philippines.
GS Caltex, who won the 6th pick, selected Medi Yoku (24), an outsight hitter for the Indonesian national team, and Heungkuk Life Insurance, who made the last nomination in 7th place, picked Reina Tokoku (24), a striker who played for the Japanese national team. Reina can handle both the outsight heater and the apositive spiker. 안전놀이터
The Asian Quarter is the first system to be attempted in the V-League. In addition to the existing foreign players contracted for each team, 10 players from 4 East Asian countries (Taiwan, Mongolia, Japan, Hong Kong) and 6 Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines) were selected for each team. One person may be selected.
Twenty-three people (8 Thai, 6 Filipino, 3 Japanese, 3 Indonesian, 2 Hong Kong, 1 Taiwanese) applied for this draft. The starting players are 3 Thai, 2 Indonesian, 1 Japanese, and 1 Filipino. The annual salary of selected Asian quarter players is 100,000 dollars (approximately 130 million won), and it is excluded from the total remuneration of domestic players.
On this day, the order of nomination was randomly selected by putting 10 marbles from 7 teams through a random lottery machine. Unlike other drafts, which are differentiated according to the rankings of the previous season, it was conducted with an equal probability lottery method.
Meanwhile, the men’s Asian draft will be held at Jeju Halla Gymnasium on the 25th and 27th.