Hwang Seung-bin, 31, ranked second in the men’s V-League in sets in the 2022-2023 season. The Woori Card’s main setter had his best season since his professional debut. Aside from sets, he was impressive in other areas, ranking 14th in digs and 24th in serves.
However, he became a trade target. Last month, he switched uniforms with KB Insurance outside hitter (left) Han Sung-jung (26) in a one-on-one deal. After joining Korean Air with the fifth pick in the first round of the 2014-2015 rookie draft, Han played for Samsung Fire and Woori Card before finding a new home with KB Insurance. He recently told Sports Dong-A, “Honestly, I feel good. I can train in a good environment such as facilities, so I am satisfied in many ways,” he said of his transfer. He has been training with the team since the end of last month and said, “It’s an atmosphere where players can enjoy training without stress. It’s not an atmosphere where the coaching staff is imprisoning me, so I feel free,” he said. “In fact, it’s very similar to the team atmosphere when I was at Korean Air.”
KB Insurance, whose number one setter last season, Hwang Taek-ui, joined the Armed Forces Athletic Corps (Commerce), had a lesser worry. Hwang Seung-bin could fill the gap. However, Hwang Seung-bin disagreed with the notion of ‘filling a gap’. “You could say I’m replacing (Hwang), but I don’t think so. I just joined the team because they wanted and needed me,” he said, adding, “No matter what the team situation is, or wherever I go, the most important thing is to play good volleyball.” 먹튀검증
“KB Insurance coach Hoo In-jung is a great supporter. He has high expectations but tries not to put pressure on them. “He told me to just have fun,” says Hwang Seung-bin. As a professional athlete, it’s natural to work hard, but he told me not to put any pressure on my performance and to just have fun playing volleyball,” Hwang said, emphasising the word ‘fun’ several times.
One of the most important things for a setter is to work with a foreign player, which is an absolute must. KB Insurance’s foreign player Bijena (Spain) is a proven resource who ranked second in attacking success rate last season. “It will take some time, but I’m confident that it won’t take too long because she’s a very good ball handler,” said Hwang Seung-bin.
Last season, Hwang played all 36 regular season matches as captain and main setter for Woori Card, and his biggest regret was missing out on the semi-finals. The pressure to perform is inevitable. “I hope to do better than last season when I played for Woori Card,” he said, “and I also hope that those who are watching me will say that I’m much better than when I played for Woori Card.”