“KEPCO has a good-looking player? Can I win…”
Every word was cautious. It was different from the Mongolian duo who had their first pro, or the Filipino volleyball stars who were thrilled to advance to Korea.
29 years old this year. ㅋㅋㅋ벳He played for Panasonic, a Japanese business volleyball team. In the meantime, he also experienced victory.
Now, Ryohei Iga (KEPCO) is taking on a new challenge. Participating in the first Asian quarter tryout in the history of the V-League held in Jeju, he was nominated by KEPCO as the second overall pick. To the extent that several teams, including KEPCO and Korean Air, were fighting over him early on, he was rather ahead of Eddy (Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance), Mark Espeho (Korean Air), 3rd, and Bayar Saihan (OK Financial Group), 4th. It was evaluated as ‘substantially number one’.
Iga, who was interviewed, said, “I was very proud the moment my name was called,” expressing hot expectations for Korean volleyball. Of course, the Asia quota salary (100,000 dollars, about 133 million won), which is said to be ‘double’ than before, is also a reason for his excitement.
He did not lose his prudence as he is in a position to challenge at a not small age. “I will do my best in all matches”, “I will focus on stable play without ups and downs”, “I have experience of winning in Japan 4-5 years ago. I want to win in Korea as well,” he expressed his firm will.
Regarding KEPCO, he replied, “I know it as a strong team that is good at volleyball.” The person who gave this explanation was Takahiko Imamura, who was called the ‘Three Musketeers of Panasonic’ along with Iga and Otake Issey (Woori Card). Unfortunately, he was the only one out of the three Japanese players to be eliminated.
I have experience playing in the same team as Liu Hongmin, who was nominated by KB Insurance. Regarding the confrontation with his old teammates, Iga laughed, saying, “If you enter a match, you are an enemy. I will work hard and win for sure.”
There was the only moment when Iga’s firm attitude collapsed. ‘Because he’s handsome, he seems to have a lot of female fans. KEPCO also has handsome players such as Lim Seong-jin,’ was the reporter’s question. When the interpreter explained that he was an ‘ikemen (a handsome man, capable man)’, Iga burst out laughing. He laughed out loud and shyly said, “I’m not going to be a player who can win.”
KEPCO director Kwon Young-min expressed satisfaction, saying, “I was worried that Bayar Saihan was still in the situation, but I did as I originally thought. I prayed that ‘only come out ahead of Korean Air’.”
“Because Jang Ji-won and Lee Ji-seok are young, there are times when they do well, but sometimes they shake. Lee Ga is a player with a lot of experience, so I think it will be different.” He is also good, and if he fits well into our team, he will do well. I hope he will learn a lot while competing in good faith. There are many good players such as Park Gyeong-min (Hyundai Capital) and Jung Min-soo (KB Insurance), but Lee Ga is the best among the 7 clubs’ liberos. I will do well,” he said, expressing his trust.
He also added, “If Iga is added to Seo Jae-deok, Lim Seong-jin, and Lee Simon, it will be a better receive line than last year,” adding, “However, a Japanese interpreter is required.”
However, at the word ‘handsome libero’, he tilted his head and said, “Are you handsome?” However, he soon emphasized, “They said they want to play in Korea for a long time. To do that, you have to do well. I hope you will be popular in our team for a long time.”