Korean Air’s Kim Min-jae is a player to look forward to tomorrow.
Kim Min-jae, who graduated from Inhasa University High School and joined Korean Air in the 2nd round 1st place in the 2021-2022 rookie draft, only played 14 sets in 7 games in the first season. Korean Air was a team full of national team players, and it was not easy for Kim Min-jae, who first caught a volleyball in his first year of high school, to take the starting position.
However, Kim Min-jae worked harder than anyone in his first off-season in his professional career. Korean Air coach Tommy Tilly Kainen continued to provide heated coaching for Kim Min-jae, who showed his outstanding athleticism, competitive spirit, and tenacity.
His efforts were not betrayed. Kim Min-jae led the team to victory by participating in all games in the 2022 KOVO Cup. Kim Min-jae, who showed potential, was also put in as a starting member in the match against KB Insurance, the opening game of the 2022-2023 season, and showed an amazing record of 10 points and an attack success rate of 87.5%.
Even after that, Kim Min-jae, who was trusted by coach Tommy, showed clear growth by participating in 31 matches and 117 sets in the 2022-2023 season. At Korean Air, which can be said to be the graveyard of rookies, a young player in his second year showed outstanding performance without hesitation, and Kim Min-jae was the hottest player in the V-League until the middle of the season.
And Korean Air won the cup competition in the 2022-2023 season, took first place in the regular league, and won the championship match, achieving a record of three consecutive combined victories with the club’s first treble. In addition, the contribution of Kim Min-jae, who ranked 3rd in fast attacks and 7th in blocking (0.521 per set), could not be overlooked.
Kim Min-jae, who had a meeting with <The Spike> on the 24th, said, “I thought it was an honor for me to help even a little during the treble, and at the same time I thought I wanted to win 4 consecutive championships.”
Min-jae Kim says he felt something during his second season in his professional career. “The regular league is a long race. That’s why physical fitness is important, but I didn’t know that. I think this is the season where I learned a lot from that. When preparing for the next season, I think I need to prepare well based on this season온라인카지노.”
Kim Min-jae, who continued to play as a middle blocker with Kim Kyu-min until the 5th round, but from the 6th round, he lost to Cho Jae-young and his time on the court decreased. “I think the director appointed Jaeyoung hyung because Jaeyoung hyung is better at serving than me and the second move and connection are done smoothly. Conversely, it can be said that it is my weakness, so I will try to make up for it.”
He continued to play and if he couldn’t run, the athlete’s ego could be hurt and he could become depressed. However, Kim Min-jae said, “Honestly, it was a bit difficult at first, but I thought we were on the same team. The hyungs also say a lot, ‘I was able to win thanks to the players in the warm-up zone’. Even if I’m in the warm-up zone, if the team wins, I’m happy too. So it’s okay.” He smiled.
Still, in a corner of my heart, I couldn’t help but feel the regret of not being able to play in the championship match. “He heard that there are people who retire without ever playing a big game like the championship game. So he really wanted to jump at least once. But just because I want to run doesn’t mean I can run. I will work harder and make it so that I have no choice but to run.”
Now, Kim Min-jae and Korean Air will participate in the 2023 AVC (Asian Volleyball Confederation) Club Championship held in Manama, Bahrain, from May 14th. Kim Min-jae said, “I aim to win unconditionally. As an athlete, I think he must be greedy. Other team members may feel the same way. He concluded the interview by saying, “I really want to win while I’m on the way.”