Dong Ha Lee hopes to impress home fans at Worlds

“To be honest, I still have many things to hone. It might be a bit early to dream about my Paralympic debut, as I should survive through national selection tournaments first.”

Dong Ha Lee surprised himself when he made it on the South Korean national team with a chance to compete at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2017 from 4-11 March. He does not want to take that opportunity for granted.

He was selected for the final entry of the South Korean team after going through trial matches with eight players. His position is third, and the team consists of Min Kyong Cho (lead), Jae-Kwan Cha (second), Jong-Pan Kim (skip) and Soon-Seok Seo (alternate).

“Firstly, I can’t still believe that I obtained a spot for such a big event, because I’m the one who has the shortest sporting career among players,” he continued.

“I just thought like let’s keep working hard, even if I’m not chosen this time, because my final goal is to compete at PyeongChang 2018. Luckily, this mindset encouraged me to concentrate on training more.”

Lee took up wheelchair curling in 2012 after a spinal cord injury. Before he got involved in the winter sport, he played wheelchair tennis for five years.

He also had a 10-year experience in Para lawn bowls. In 2007 he represented his country at an international competition in Australia. This actually, he said, helped his transition to curling.

“All these careers helped me to build my fitness. In particular, as playing styles between Para lawn bowls and wheelchair curling are quite similar, it made me adapt the sport quickly.”

However he still feels difficulties in communicating about strategies with a skip due to his lack of experiences at tournaments.

“The role of third is to assist a skip. I need to widen my vision that reads flow of games in order to have better understanding of a skip’s strategies,” he said.

Lee’s primary aim for the 2017 World Championships is to reach the semi-finals.

“If we pass through the semi-finals, we will definitely have more chance to win,” he continued.

“For our goal, above all we should consolidate teamwork in a short space of time, because our team completed to be formed this February.”

He regards Norway as the biggest rival especially.

“Our head coach [Jong-Chul Baek] said that South Korea hasn’t won over Norway so far. Therefore, this time I want to achieve a victory against them in our home ground.”

Dream of PyeongChang 2018

After the Worlds, eight athletes will compete for a final entry of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games again until June, 2017.

“To be honest, I still have many things to hone. It might be a bit early to dream about my Paralympic debut, as I should survive through national selection tournaments first.”

However, at the same time, he cannot stop imagining himself on the PyeongChang ice next year.

“I heard about experiences at Sochi 2014 from my colleagues. Jong-Pan Kim and Soon-Seok Seo said that they were bewildered competing at such a huge event for the first time,” he continued.

“This sport requires a high level of concentration, so I should become stronger mentally in order to stay focused on a match in front of many fans.”

“And if I’m chosen to play for South Korea, I will promise to devote myself to make my country and family proud.”

The World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2017 will be held in the Gangneung Curling Centre and act as the Test Event for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

Complete information on the World Championships can be found on World Curling’s website.