Asian Games Teams

S Korean canoe team faces grim prospect to win at Asiad

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-04 09:45

SEOUL - South Korean canoe sprint team has lost its most promising gold medal prospect and head coach when the Asian Games in China is just around the corner.

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Korean Canoe Federation said Wednesday that Shin Dong-jin, who was to team up with Kim Tae-eun for the C-2 (canoe double) 1,000- meter race in the men's sprint event, has pulled out of the Guangzhou Asian Games due to a disc problem. Yoon Young-dae, the sprint head coach, also resigned himself citing chronic health problems.

Shin, 27, is the country's leading canoe player who took first place in the C-1 men's 500m at the National Sports Festival for two consecutive years.

He underwent surgery on Monday. Shin had complained of back pains following his intense schedule. He had to participate in the National Sports Festival in early October right after he finished a training session in Hungary, which ran through July to late September.

"We haven't decided yet whether to pick a new head coach or to use the current coach, Jung Jong-hwan, as the interim head coach," an official at the canoe federation  was quoted as saying by Seoul's Yonhap News Agency. "We're worried that this will affect the morale for the rest of the team."

"With the absence of Shin, the national team will give up on the C-2 1,000m event, and Kim Tae-eun will compete in the C-1 (canoe single) 1,000m event," coach Jung was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

Shin and Kim won the 2009 Asian Canoe Sprint Championship in the C-2 1,000m race in Iran, outpacing the runner-up by almost three full seconds.

The canoe federation paired them up for the C-2 men's double event in order to win the first canoe gold since the 1990 Beijing Asian Games.