Er-Hung (18, Mokpo female prize) from Mongolia, who is pursuing naturalization, wore the Pepper Savings Bank uniform as the first pick in the professional volleyball rookie draft.
In the 2022-2023 Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO) Women’s Rookie Draft held at the Rivera Hotel in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 5th, Er-Hung was the first among 49 participants to be called by Pepper Savings Bank.
Er-Hung was drafted on the same day according to the volleyball federation rules that a player who applied for a draft as a naturalized player or a player who is in the process of naturalization with the consent of the former club can participate in the draft.
Born in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2004, Er-Hung came to Korea in 2019 and was adopted by Korean parents in 2021.
The parents of Hyeseon Yeom (31), the main setter of KGC Ginseng Corporation, adopted Er-Hung and are called ‘Yeom Er-Hung’.
If Er-Hung, 194.5 cm tall, acquires Korean citizenship, she is expected to play an active role as an immovable middle blocker in the Korean women’s volleyball team.
As a result, Er-Hung became the second player to be nominated by a professional team in the process of naturalization following Lee Young (26), a middle blocker currently playing at the KGC Ginseng Corporation.
Lee Young, a native of Yanji, Jilin Province, China, came into contact with volleyball at the recommendation of a Korean missionary and set foot on Korean soil in 2010, when she was a sophomore in middle school.
Lee Young, who was pursuing naturalization at the time of the draft, started playing in the 2014-2015 season only following getting naturalization approval.
Er-Hung, who has left the naturalization interview at present, like Lee Young, must be fully approved for naturalization before she can stand on the professional stage.
Middle blocker Lim Hye-rim (Sehwa Girls’ High School) was placed in the arms of Heungkuk Life Insurance with the 1st place in the first round, and Pepper Savings Bank selected the outside heater Lee Min-seo (Sunmyung Girls’ High School) as the 2nd place in the 1st round.
In this year’s draft, Pepper Savings Bank exercised the first-round priority selection right, and following that, Heungkuk Life Insurance, Pepper Savings Bank, KGC Ginseng Corporation, IBK Industrial Bank, GS Caltex, Korea Expressway Corporation, and Hyundai E&C, followed by 1st Round 1 according to the probability of lottery. – Nominates 7th place players.
The odds of the lottery were in the reverse order of last season’s results: Pepper Savings Bank 35%, Heungkuk Life 30%, IBK Industrial Bank 20%, KGC Ginseng Corporation 8%, GS Caltex 4%, Korea Expressway Corporation 2%, and Hyundai E&C 1%.
/yunhap news