Refer Report
The Haesung Women’s Kisung Championship, the largest women’s individual tournament in Korea, held its opening ceremony and completed preparations for the new season.
The opening ceremony of the 8th Haesung Women’s Go Championship held on the 23rd at The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul was attended by approximately 150 people, including Haesung Group Chairman Dan Jae-wan, Vice Chairman Dan Woo-young, President Dan Woo-jun, Haesung Group executives and employees, Korea Baduk Association Vice President Han Sang-yeol, Secretary General Yang Jae-ho, Professional Go Association President Han Jong-jin, Korea Women’s Baduk Federation President Lee Gwang-soon, and professional and amateur players participating in the tournament, to celebrate the opening of the tournament.
On this day, the opening ceremony was all done by the players, including the congratulatory speech, opening declaration, and toast. Kim Eun-ji, 9th Dan, who came on stage as the winner of the previous competition, said, “The moment I won the Women’s Ki-seong Championship last year was the happiest day since I started playing baduk. I would like to thank Haesung for creating such a wonderful competition that allowed me to achieve my dream.” She then declared the opening of the competition, saying, “The eighth Haesung Women’s Ki-seong Championship begins now.”
Kim Mi-ri, the president of the Women’s Go Association, then went up on stage and said, “Looking back on my professional career, I regret not being able to fully demonstrate my skills. I hope all the players who participated in this competition can play Go without regrets.” The toast was proposed by Choi Jeong, 9-dan, the runner-up in the previous competition.
The 8th Haesung Women’s Kisung Tournament will be attended by a total of 49 players, including female professional players affiliated with the Korea Baduk Association and 4 players who passed the amateur preliminary round, and will hold preliminary rounds on the 24th and 25th. The 20 players who passed the preliminary round will compete in a 24-team tournament with former seeds Kim Eun-ji, Choi Jeong, Kim Chae-young 9-dan, and sponsor seed Oh Yu-jin 9-dan to determine the eighth tournament hero. The main round will be broadcast live on Baduk TV every Monday and Tuesday at 7 PM starting September 9th.
The prize money for the winner of this competition, sponsored by Haesung Group and hosted and organized by the Korea Baduk Association, is 50 million won, and the prize money for the runner-up is 20 million won. The time limit is 1 hour for each player, and 3 40-second countdowns are given.
Reporter Jo Soo-young delinews@hankyung.com
Source: Korean