K-League Roundup: Tragic Round 9

May 11th, 2011 | by: Jae | Comments Off

Round 9 of the K-League was this past weekend, but it is noted more for two tragic incidents that took place. One of Friday morning in Seoul and the other on Sunday in Jeju.

Friday evening reports started to filter out that police had found the body of 24 year old Incheon United goalkeeper Yoon Ki-Won had been found in his car at a rest stop. Reportedly a still smoking charcoal briquette had been found on the seat next to him. Police are investigating, but are currently treating it as a suicide. Yoon had been considered a promising talent for Incheon. He had started the first seven matches of the season for Incheon before being dropped. Yoon was only 24 years old.

Later in the weekend, on Sunday at the match between Jeju United and Daegu. Late in the match, Jeju forward Shin Yong-Rok collapsed suddenly on the pitch. He was quickly taken to the local hospital where he was diagnosed and treated for heart failure which resulted in a stoppage of blood flow to his brain. Shin is still in a coma. He is reportedly doing slightly better as he is breathing on his own, but still has a long way to go to recover.

Certainly, the South Korea blog sends thoughts and prayers to both players’ family and loved ones. Both are certainly sombering examples that put things in perspective that while soccer/football may mean a lot to us, there are bigger things in life.

While both incidents are tragic, life does go on, and there were matches held on the weekend. The SK blog was at the Asiad Stadium to see a resurgent Busan I’Park take on top of the table Pohang Steelers. Here’s a round up of the results from round 9:

Jeonbuk 1 – 0 Ulsan
Suwon 1 – 2 Chunnam
Jeju 3 – 0 Daegu
Sangju 3 – 4 Seoul
Gangwon 1 – 1 Seongnam
Daejeon 1 – 2 Incheon
Busan 2 – 1 Pohang
Gyeongnam 1 – 0 Gwangju

Table – After Round 9
Team / Points / Goal Difference
1. Jeonbuk / 19/ +12
2. Pohang / 18 / +7
3. Sangju / 16 / +4
4. Gyeongnam / 16 / +1
5. Jeju / 15 / +3
6. Suwon / 13 / +1
7. Chunnam / 13 / 0
8. Daejeon / 12 / +2
9. Busan / 12 / 0
10. Seoul / 12 / -2
11. Incheon / 12 / -3
12. Daegu / 11 / -3
13. Ulsan / 10 / -2
14. Gwangju / 10 / -6
15. Seongnam / 7 / -2
16. Gangwon / 2 / -11

Busan is probably the league’s hottest team right now. After starting the season slow and dropping all the way to 15th, the team has reeled off three straight victories to climb up to 9th place and knocked off then-top of the table Pohang on the weekend in a scrappy, fiesty affair. Seoul similarly has found their winning ways and has managed to haul themselves out of the bottom of the table. Gangwon, conversely, has not. Although things have gotten slightly better as after going seven matches without picking up a single point, they have managed two draws to pick up two points.

Schedule – Round 10
Chunnam vs Daejeon
Gangwon vs Gwangju
Incheon vs Busan
Seoul vs Gyeongnam
Pohang vs Jeonbuk
Ulsan vs Jeju
Seongnam vs Suwon

The top match (on paper at least) is Pohang vs Jeonbuk which will see the top two teams face off. Other interesting matches are a resurgent Seoul take on the always steady Gyeongnam