The unusual specifications of Woo Hee-jun (29), the women’s national team member participating in the ‘ Kabaddi ‘ event at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, are becoming a hot topic.
Kabaddi, India’s traditional team sport, was adopted as an official안전놀이터 sport at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games. Two teams compete with 7 players per team. When an offensive player enters the opposing defensive half, touches a defensive player, and returns to his own half, he scores one point for each player he touched. When a striker crosses into the opponent’s half, he or she must continuously shout the word ‘Kabaddi’ (which means holding one’s breath in Hindi).
Woo Hee-jun participates in this event, whose name is unfamiliar, and aims for a gold medal in the Asian Games. After graduating from high school, Heejun Woo was accepted to the Korea Tourism Organization and became the first high school graduate in history.
However, he resigned after six months, saying he wanted to experience a wider world, and traveled to India, where he encountered kabaddi for the first time. At that time in India, Woo Hee-jun was known to have developed his dream of representing the national team by playing kabaddi on the streets with his children.
After returning to Korea, Woo Hee-jun started on his path to becoming a player when he contacted the domestic kabaddi association and began training. He participated for the first time as a member of the national team at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, and although he did not win a medal, he finished in 5th place, his best performance ever in the competition.
Woo Hee-jun also has an unusual background as a former Miss Korea and ROTC officer. Woo Hee-jun, who entered the University of Ulsan in 2016, participated in the 2019 Miss Korea pageant and was elected to the top after overcoming a competition rate of 700 to 1.
After being elected, she suddenly joined the military and was appointed as the first female second lieutenant in the Special Forces. Last June, she was discharged as a lieutenant to participate in the Asian Games. It is said that Woo Hee-jun decided to participate in the Miss Korea contest because he thought he could promote kabaddi, an unpopular sport.
Meanwhile, the Asian Games were scheduled to be held in 2022, but were postponed due to COVID-19 and will be held this year. It starts on the 23rd and ends on the 8th of next month.