The first foreigner in Korean soft tennis competes for the '102nd Dong-A Ilbo' summit

Riko Hayashida, former member of the Japanese national team, won gold at the 2018 AG-2019 World Championships. 'Genius girl' fame, early retirement, language training in Korea 'Call' opens tomorrow at Sunchang County Office. Six countries also participated overseas.

Riko Hayashida, a former member of the Japanese national team and Korea's first professional soft tennis player, is aiming to win the women's singles title at the Dong-A Ilbo Tournament. The photo is of Hayashi during the Presidential Conference held in March.

The 102nd Dong-A Ilbo National Soft Tennis Tournament will begin on the 4th at the Mungyeong International Soft Tennis Stadium in Gyeongbuk. Dong-A Ilbo, which started as the All-Joseon Women's Tennis Tournament in 1923, boasts the longest history among domestic sports competitions. Although the National Sports Festival began three years before the Dong-A Ilbo, it was held as the All-Joseon Baseball Tournament until 1924, so its nature was different from the present.

Even in Japan, the home of soft tennis, there is no tournament with a longer history than the Dong-A Ilbo. The All Japan Soft Tennis Tournament, commonly called 'Gogo Hai (皇后杯, Empress Cup)', has a history 23 years shorter than the Dong-A Ilbo, having held its first tournament in 1946.

Dong-A Ilbo is preparing to be upgraded to an international competition after the 100th competition. This year's competition will feature 112 participants from six overseas countries, including Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Thailand, and Cambodia. The number of participating countries increased by two compared to last year. Of the total participants (approximately 1,000 people), including Korean players, more than 10% are from overseas.

In this year's competition, a foreign player playing for a Korean team also appeared for the first time. Riko Hayashida (25, Japan), a member of Sunchang County Office, is the protagonist. Hayashida made a name for herself as a 'genius girl' by winning Go Go High in 2017, when she was in her third year of high school, paired with Kokoro Miyashida (24). They were the first high school students to win Go Go High.

Hayashida said that even as an adult, she continued to be a key player for the Japanese national team, winning team gold medals at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and the 2019 Taizhou World Championships. Soft tennis is not an Olympic sport, but the Asian Games and World Championships are considered the most prestigious competitions.

Because I climbed to the top too quickly, ‘burnout’ came quickly. Hayashida was 23 years old when she announced her retirement from playing in 2022. Hayashida, who had always been interested in Korean culture, came to Korea for language training after her retirement. Then, just a year after starting her language training, she picked up her racket again when she received a scouting offer from Sunchang County Office. Sunchang County Office originally only had a men's team, but with the establishment of a women's team, it began strengthening its power by recruiting foreign players.

An official from the Korea Soft Tennis Association said, “Sunchang County Office as a whole falls short of the team’s ability to win the team event. However, Hayashida is worth aiming for the individual singles and doubles championship,” he said. “I expect that Hayashida will be able to help not only in the business team but also in nurturing dream players for the national team.” Hayashida had already won his first domestic competition by defeating Lee Min-seon (26, NH Nonghyup Bank) during the presidential term held in March. Lee Min-seon is a leading Korean player who won the women's singles championship for two consecutive years in 2022 and last year's Dong-A Ilbo. If Hayashida takes the top spot in this competition, he will become the second player in history to win both Dong-A Ilbo and Gogo High, following the group of Kwon Hwa-seon (78) and Kim Bong-hee (77). The pair of Kwon Hwa-seon and Kim Bong-hee, who won the Donga Ilbo six times, became the first foreigners to reach the top of Gogo High in 1970. 온라인섯다