U19 national team ace Kang Sung-wook (Sungkyunkwan University 1, 181 cm) is ready for the World Cup.
The Korea U19 Men’s National Team won 85-78 in a scrimmage against Sungkyunkwan University on Tuesday at Sungkyunkwan’s Natural Campus Gymnasium. The standout was Kang Sung-wook, who led the way with accurate outside shooting, steals, and fast breaks.
“I have a lot of friends from last year’s U18 national team,” said Kang. I have new younger brothers who are in their third year of high school, so I’m focusing on hand-eye coordination. I think we need to work on our defense and movement without the ball.”
On this day, Kang Sung-wook met his team, Sungkyunkwan University, as an opponent. He greeted his long-lost teammates with a smile, but once the game started, he did his best to help his team win.
“It was a lot of fun,” says Kang. I felt comfortable because I knew how Sungkyunkwan University defends. There was no pressure because it was my team,” he laughed.
Last year, Korea won the U18 Asian Men’s Basketball Championship for the first time in 22 years. Kang Sung-wook, Lee Ju-young, and Lee Chae-hyung were the main stars of the victory. However, Lee and Lee Chae-hyung were unable to join the national team due to injuries, so it was up to Kang Sung-wook to play the ace role.
“It’s more important for me to be in sync with my teammates than to be the ace. I want to talk on defense, coordinate well and achieve good results. I will take a small part of the ace role and lead the team well,” says Kang.안전놀이터
The team will depart for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023 on March 21 to host Hungary. Korea will face Hungary, Turkuye, and Argentina. All are expected to be tough opponents.
“We’ve just started training, so our defense is lacking a lot,” said Kang Sung-wook. We need to improve our organization and talk hard in practice. On offense, I’ll try to bring the pattern and motion offense under coach Lee Se-beom’s guidance.”