South Korea looking to build up on PyeongChang success in Beijing

Asian team is making its fourth Paralympic appearance in Para ice hockey and the first after winning bronze on home soil in 2018 27 Feb 2022
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A Para ice hockey player on a sledge celebrates with his right arm raised.
Team Korea is bringing the whole squad that participated at the Ostrava 2021 Worlds A-Pool to Beijing for the Paralympic tournament.
ⒸCzech Para Ice Hockey
By World Para Ice Hockey

South Korea announced the squad that will represent the country in its fourth-straight Paralympic appearance.

Coach Min-Su Han assigned 17 players that will try to defend or better the bronze medal from the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

More than half of the squad (10 players) is returning for a new Paralympic appearance at Beijing 2022.

Star forward Byeong-Seok Cho is one of them, going to his fourth Games. The 36-year-old started playing for the national team in 2009 and has led the team in points at the Ostrava 2019 World Championships A-Pool with four goals and four assists.

Cho competed in Para athletics and wheelchair fencing at national level as well.

Besides Cho, there are nine forwards in the Korean squad for Beijing 2022: Bae-Suk Choi, Si-Wood Choi, Jong-Ho Jang, Seung-Hwan Jung, Sang-Lak Kim, Jong-Kyung Lee, Jun-Yong Lee, Sang-Hyeon Park, and Jee-Hyun Ryu.

NO CHANGES FROM OSTRAVA

South Korea will try to be more efficient on the scoreboard in Beijing as they have put the puck in the back of the net only four times at the Ostrava 2021 World Championships A-Pool.

The second Asian team in action at Beijing 2022 - alongside host nation China -, South Korea did not make any changes in the squad that competed at last year's World Championships.

The Korean roster includes five defenceman: Yong-Jae Cho, Hyuk-Jun Choi, Kwang-Hyouk Choi, Dong-Shin Jang, and Young-Sung Kim.

Jae-Woong Lee is the first choice goaltender, while Man Gyun Yu will have to wait for his chance from the bench.

South Korea will play its opening game at the Paralympic tournament on 6 March against the defending champions, team USA.

The other team participating in Group A is Canada. The top two finishers in Group A will automatically advance to the semi-finals, while the top finisher in Group B and the bottom third-placed team in Group A will be challenged by the second and third team in Group B for the other semi-final spots.