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The past two seasons have been painful for Heungkuk Life. Teams that have not even advanced to spring volleyball will ask where the runner-up is for the second consecutive time, but the higher the potential energy, the greater the pain of the defeat. Moreover, both of those runner-up finishes were even more bitter losses because of their huge impact. The runner-up in the 2022-2023 season championship game fell to the victim of an unprecedented reverse sweep defeat, losing three games even after winning two games first. In the 2023-2024 season, he met Jeong Kwan-jang in the playoffs and struggled to defeat him with 2-1 and lost to Hyundai Engineering & Construction three times. The regret was even greater because he lost all three games after a close full set match.

There is not much time left to retain the "Volleyball Empress" Kim Yeon-koung. This means that the time for Heungkuk Life to seek the championship is getting shorter and shorter. Heungkuk Life Insurance players are sweating to have their fifth star engraved on their uniforms after overcoming the pain of defeat over the past two seasons. The team has been conducting intensive training sessions since Tuesday in Shanghai, China.

The plane crossed the West Sea at 11:10 a.m. on Saturday, but the schedule was delayed. As Pudong Airport is located in the easternmost part of Shanghai and Qingpu District, where field training is held, is located in the westernmost part of Shanghai, it took a long time to travel from the airport.

It was long after 4 p.m. when the team unpacked at their accommodation and had a late lunch. Heungkuk Life Insurance players immediately gathered at 5:30 p.m. and started warming up at the training site of Shanghai Bright U-Best, where Kim Yeon-koung played for two seasons in the past.

As soon as I entered the entrance of the training ground, several photos of Kim Yeon-koung's past activities were displayed. Kim Yeon-koung played for Shanghai Bright U-Best for only two seasons, 2017-2018 and 2021-2022, but it was a glimpse of how big a mark he left on the team.

The players, who have become stiff due to the tough journey, spent more time warming up than usual and started ball exercises after finishing warming up. Under the leadership of Marcello Avondaga, including serve, reception and toss, the players conducted training that reminded them of the actual game without performing the final attack work.

On the other court of the gym, where the two courts were set up, four setters, Lee Go-eun, Park Hye-jin, Kim Da-sol and Seo Chae-hyun, were working hard to practice tossing under the guidance of KBSN commentator Lee Sook-ja, who is participating as a setter instructor. Mainly, he practiced the toss walk, which shoots the ball with a B fastball and a quick-open attack route even when the setter was likely to fall in the face of shaking reception. Lee was busy teaching the players various postures and know-how, including the shape of his hand when tossing.


After a short training session, the team conducted its last training session with attacking players. Lee Go-eun, who is expected to serve as the main setter for this season, displayed various attacks to strikers. Tutku Bourgeois, a foreign striker, also succeeded in attacking several times by receiving a quick back-to-back shot from Lee Go-eun and other setters. Outside heaters including Kim Yeon-koung were seen practicing center rear-end attack (pipe) the most. As Heungkuk Life had matches with outside heaters' rear-end attack options almost blocked last year, he seemed to foreshadow diversification of its attack routes in the next season. Avonjada immediately delivered feedback while watching the players' play.

The first day of training could have been carried out lightly because it flew from Incheon International Airport to Shanghai, China, from morning, but the training hours were well over the set time. Even though the gym was announced to be closed at 7:30 p.m., the first day of training ended at almost 8 p.m. Kim Soo-ji, the captain of Heungkuk Life Insurance this season, said with a smile, "What a long day," after getting on the bus in sweat, "I thought the training would be completed a little faster due to the delayed schedule from the airport today, but I don't think there is any room."