Report by Edward Zhang, Capital Go Club
Team Segwipo (Jeju island), ranked #1 in the Korean Women’s Baduk League, will advance directly to the finals on September 21-23. The teams ranked 2-4 will compete in best-of-three playoffs on September 14; the playoffs will be live on BadukTV.
In the Korean Women’s Baduk League, eight teams play a double round-robin and each match has one regular game and two fast games. After 13 of 14 rounds, the top three teams are Segwipo (Jeju island) with an 11-2 record, and Suncheon Bay and Samcheok Marine, both with 8-5 records.
The league has been well organized and it’s very competitive. Through BadukTV and Youtube, the players showcase their talents in the game, and characters in the after-game interviews. It is a bit of surprise that the team with the world’s current #1 woman player, Choi Jung, just ranks 5th and there is a risk of missing the playoffs. That’s as surprising as if Lebron James’ Lakers missed the NBA playoffs.
(Yoonyoung Kim in orange team shirt facing the camera)
In the playoffs, No.3 and No.4 play first, and then the winner meets No.2 in the semi-final. The team prizes are: $41,000 (55,000,000 won) for first place, $26,000 for second, $19,000 for third and $11,000 for fourth.
The player who wins the League MVP award – determined by fan and press voting — receives an additional $26,000. The top five individual performers are Cho Seung-ah (11-2), Choi Jung (11-2), Kim Yoonyoung (9-3), Kim Chae-young and Oh Yoojin (both at 9-4). Kim Yoonyoung, who just moved back to Korea in 2021 after living in Canada for a few years, is clearly a dark horse to help her team dominate in the league.
