A MEMBER of the Korean team that beat the Philippines in the 2002 Busan Asian Games is returning to the world stage.
Kim Joo Sung, one of the veterans in the Korean national squad, will be competing in the 2014 Fiba World Cup in Spain, 16 years after its last appearance in the world championship.
The 33-year-old Kim is the only remnant of the Korean team that clinched a spot in the 1998 Fiba World Championships in Athens where it finished dead-last in a field of 16 teams.
Kim was also part of the Korean team that won the gold on their home turf in Busan by beating China in the final after stunning the Philippines in their semifinal with a last-second triple by Lee Sang Min.
Now Kim is just glad that his team will be returning to the world basketball tournament.
“I’d love to go to Spain right now,” Kim said through an interpreter.
Kim said that Korean basketball had fallen into hard times that is why they haven’t returned to the world tilt for quite a while.
“Our basketball became less popular to fans. Now that we get a ticket to Spain, I hope that it will be popular again,” said Kim.
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