Thanks for the excellent translation Eric :) . Extremely interesting to read :) .

Thanks for translating, Eric. :D
Believe me, your English is not bad all all! I'm sure it was good practice. ;)

I'm glad Mi-Ra is in good spirits. It seems she still doesn't have internet connect from her new home. :(
Pity she can't celebrate Christmas with her family, but tennis talks. ;)

That translation was quite good, no need to be embarrassed. :)
I really hope a WTA event or even an exhibition happens in Korea someday soon. There was that LPGA golf tournament in Cheju Island, and I heard there were tons of people watching. Sigh...

Hi, all~~ :wavey:

I've been waiting for another posting from Mi-ra, but still no post. :(

tommyk75 : I hope so, too. But for LPGA, there are some top Korean girls there so it could raise some good attention and sponsor easily I think. I don't think the competition in LPGA is as hard as in WTA tour, though.

Anyone knows why Mi-ra is going to go New Zealand on 23rd Dec. I think it's a bit early for the event the next week,.. and its quali as well. Maybe she didn't get a plane ticket for the right time due to Christmas season. It would be great if she can spend Christmas with her family who are sincere Christians.

Go, Mi-ra!
:bounce:

She wants to go skiing in New Zealand? Do some sightseeing? She has her boyfriend there :eek: :p?

I think more seriously that as you mention it is an air ticket reason : either because of difficulties to find other departure dates or because of special deals at this time.

I believe also that she is going with Yoon-Jeong at the same time.

Is Mi-Ra also Christian? I don't remember reading any post on this topic? She does not mention anything in this subject usually, does she?

I have seen that Mi-Ra is in Hyderabad Commitments, along with Yoon-Jeong.

The latter appears also in Kroger Saint-Jude commitments list, but alone.

Yes, I read in her profile from her old website, that she is Christian. Yoon-Jeong is Christian as well. :)

Apart from Tokyo and Hyderabad, Mi-Ra has not entered any other WTA event as of yet. She may be thinking of playing the $25K Challenger in the US which is on the same time as Memphis. Still, it would not have hurt to enter Memphis either, to see where she stood in the entries. :)

I'm quite looking forward to seeing how she does in India, as it would be the 1st time playing there as a professional. I have no idea if she's played there in juniors though.

Anyway, here is her schedule so far according to WTA entries...

* Auckland, NZL (Tier V)
???
* Australian Open (GS)
* Tokyo, JPN (Tier I)
* Hyderabad, IND (Tier IV)

I'm quite happy so far with her schedule. I think it's possible she'll play Canberra after Auckland, as Yoon-Jeong is playing there. Otherwise, she'll probably go straight to Melbourne from Auckland.

Hi, all~~ :wavey:

I've been lazy. :o
Maybe as an excuse, I try to be away from the net and PC on weekend. Cause I live with them all day in my office in weekdays. ;)

Yeah, Mi-ra and her family are Christian. As far as I remember, Mi-ra mentioned many times about her mother, a devout Christian, that her mother gets up very early and pray for Mi-ra every morning when Mi-ra is playing an event,..and she mentioned sometimes it was some big pressure,. cause her mother's health was not that good enough for that.
I read that in her former fan site which is not available now. At the fan site,.. she told something personal many times,.. but not now. Maybe too many(?) people joined her new fan site. The bigger fan site, the less private stuff. ;)
Anyway,... I was searching for that stuff,.. but I found some other stories from Mi-ra which she wrote for a magazine, Tennis Korea, for 2 years. I've spend some time for reading that article,... maybe if I have some (more) free time,.. I'll try translate them here. But I still don't think my skill is not good enough for that, even though I was flattered last time for that. ;) :o


As for the commitments, I hope she enters to the Middle east events, Doha & Dubai. As you know,... under current situation, not many American or European girls would go there,.. so cut off will be low than ever,.. so Mi-ra would have some good chance there.

And I read an article which says that there will be an WTA tournament next year in Korea. I'm not sure it's true now. I posted a thread regarding that matter on General Message section for some verification.
I hope it's true. Cause the company's owner is a brother of Head coach of Mi-ra's team. So Mi-ra can have some good chance there.

Good day.
:D

Thanks for all these info Eric :) .

B. APPLICATION FOR A NEW TOURNAMENT ON THE 2004
WTA TOUR

The prospective owner of a new Tournament must meet all the
obligations of a prospective owner as follows:

1. Complete the WTA Tour application form by February 28, 2003.

2. Submit a $5,000 application fee for a Tier IV or Tier V Conditional Tournament no later than February 28, 2003. Half of this fee will be non-refundable. The other half will be refunded if the WTA Tour rejects the application. If the WTA Tour defers the application, the prospective owner need not pay an additional application fee for the renewal of the application.

3. The 2004 WTA Tour application must be complete in order to ensure that the applicant is in good standing. No application will be acted upon until the WTA Tour has received all information, along with the application fee.

4. A new Tournament applicant should make every effort to contact and seek approval from their National Tennis Association or Federation. However, this approval is not required for acceptance onto the WTA Tour.

5. Pay the cost of a WTA Tour site check (including travel, lodging, food, and other reasonable expenses) if one is deemed necessary by the WTA Tour.

6. Pay the cost of a security risk assessment(s) prepared by the WTA Tour’s professional security consulting firm, if one is deemed necessary by the WTA Tour.

7. Upon approval of the application, the Tournament must pay a one-time sanction fee to the WTA Tour (information regarding the amount to be provided by the WTA Tour), and must abide by Financial Security requirements for new Tournaments if a Tier III, IV or V Level Tournament. If the Tournament is a Tier I or II Level, the Tournament must submit an appropriate Letter(s) of Credit if requested by the Tour.

8. Upon approval and finalization of the Calendar, the WTA Tour will return a copy of the Tournament Application executed by an officer of the WTA Tour indicating formal approval of the Tournament on the terms and conditions set forth in the Application.

9. Applicants for new Tournaments are advised that the WTA Tour will grant a new Tier IV or V sanction only if, in the Tour’s sole discretion, the new Tournament is geographically and temporally appropriate and otherwise serves the best interests of the WTA Tour.

So if there is indeed a new tournament (which I truly hope), we will know latest by end February :) .

Thanks for the info, Steveg. :D

But I'm asking 'a new tournament in 2003' not 2004. I'm wondering it would be possible or not. Maybe they bought a right from a canceled tournament,.. hopefully.
The article said the tournament will be held next year, 2003.

I really hope it's happening.
:)

Anyway,... this afternoon, I had kind of free time all afternoon. So I did search some info on Mi-ra on internet,... and I found so many articles, interviews and stories about her. :D

I didn't know that she had a heart surgery before giving up tennis. :eek:
Too much reading in a day. ;)

Good luck, Mi-ra~~
:D

Originally posted by Eric_tennis
Thanks for the info, Steveg. :D

But I'm asking 'a new tournament in 2003' not 2004. I'm wondering it would be possible or not. Maybe they bought a right from a canceled tournament,.. hopefully.
The article said the tournament will be held next year, 2003.

I really hope it's happening.
:) Oops sorry :o .

There is something about new tourneys in 2003, but the WTA rules file is in my house computer :( . I am now in the office and leaving to the airport, for some holidays, in 30 minutes or so.

I'll check that out when I come back :) (unless someone else posts it meanwhile).

Mi-Ra had a heart surgery :eek: :sad: . She looks fine now :) .

:wavey:

Did Jeon really have heart surgery? What happened? Wish her well!!! And back in the swing of WTA competition...:) :cool: :D :wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

I'd say Mi-Ra had the heart surgery sometime either in 1998 or 1999. I'm sure it's no longer a factor, thank goodness. :)

As for the WTA tourney in Seoul, it's quite likely. The date is very logical. Let's also not forget the Challenger is no longer in existance, so a WTA tourney is not surprising.

BTW, here is the old website for the CFM Cup:
www.cfmcup.co.kr

Eric, maybe you might find this interesting: ;)
http://board5.interpia98.net/cgi-bin/Board/board.cgi?db=style98

Hi, all ~~ :wavey:

I broke my rule,... getting on the net on weekend. :o
Sorry to make you guys worried with her heart surgery. It's was done several years ago like danker said. I think she doesn't have any problem on it. :)

Steveg : It's OK and many thanks indeed. :D Hope you have great holidays.

danker : Wow,... you still keep the links for the board,.. I find a poster there ( ID : ^^ ) who gave some match results,.. I don't think he is joining new Mi-ra's fan site though. In her new fan site, I think I'm the only one who post her match result. ( by courtesy of generous posters on wtaworld board. ;) and my friend's user ID as well. Cause it requires a membership for the cyber cafe. :( )

Oh, nooooooooo~ :sad:

I got a bad news on Mi-ra. I've just checked Mi-ra's fan site,.. and I found a message which says her knee injury.

Mi-ra said she has some problem with her knee so she hasn't trained well recently. She's saying she is considering her departure for New Zealand.
She's saying that the knee problem is slightly getting better but still a great concern. She's saying she is very worried to have a knee problem just before new season.
She said she would go for weight training the afternoon.

Pretty bad news indeed. :( Get well soon, Mi-ra~~

And she left some sweet message for 'Merry Christmas' for her fans. :D

Merry Christmas~~
:wavey:

Thanks for the news Eric. :wavey:

Pity it had to be bad news. :sad:

What an awful timing to get a knee injury, and knee injuries are one of the worst to have. :(

Let's hope everything works out. :)

Merry Christmas! :wavey:

I wish her knee injury will be recovred soon so that she can strengthen Asian squad in WTA tour...She is talented player! Thanks God, her heart surgery is a history! Wish you the best in 2003!:) :D :cool: :wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

Why did WTA erase the challenger tournament in Korea? So, my wish for the acceptance of first WTA Tour tier IV or V in Korea!!! Bravo, Korea!:cool: :wavey: :) :wavey: :D :wavey:

poor Mi-Ra :(

wish her getting well soon and have a great season in 2003 :)

goshhh hope she gets well! and to see her in aus open

Hi, all~~ :wavey:

Mi-ra left a message before leaving for New Zealand. :D There are bad news and good news. :sad: :drool:

Bad news is Mi-ra is having another injury. :( She said her knee injury got better, but her wrist is aching. :( She's saying she has some injuries in winter due to cold weather. ( or getting older :eek: )

Good news is she's mentioning the new WTA tour event in Korea in 2003 season as I read in an article. She said it's not finalized yet, but it's most likely to happen. Cause her head coach's brother promised to be a major sponsor for that event. She hopes it should happen and many high rankers join the event to boost home crowd.

She greeted to her fans to have merry Christmas and happy new year! :D And also she asked her fans to cheer for her in 2003 season as well.

She mentioned her schedule also,... but it sounds somewhat odd to me. She said she would play a WTA event in New Zealand and then, a challenger in Aussie,.. and finally Aussie Open quali. But I don't think there would be an Aussie challenger the next week. :confused: A person who is in charge of schedulling in her team is not that competent, I think, as you may know. So I'm somewhat worried that it may force Mi-ra to be embarrased at the site due to the situation. She should be alone there cause the team's staff would be with YJ Cho in another city. :( If I had seen the message more earlier I would have posted a message regarding that matter to notify that to Mi-ra. But she had just left a message just before she left for the airport. :sad:
But according to Steveg,.. she improved her English skill a lot,... so hopefully she can handle well.

Go, Mi-ra!!
:bounce:

Eric, thanks for the news :) . And yes Mi-Ra speaks well English now.

The piece of advice you could give her is to download the ITF tournaments schedule available on the Sanex WTA site. It would help her ;) .

I will be shure to cheer for her in AUS! :D

Thanks for the good and bad news, Eric. :wavey:

Yes, there is definitely "NO" challenger in Australia before the Aus Open. I'm hoping Mi-Ra wasn't thinking straight when she wrote 'challenger' instead of 'WTA event'. ;)

Even if there was a Challenger that week, it wouldn't be wise for her to play there because if she did well, she would have to miss the Aus Open qualies.

Do you know which tourney, YJ Cho is playing after Auckland? I'm hoping that tourney is what Mi-Ra really meant. I'd say Canberra (Tier V)... :confused:

I really hope her wrist gets better really soon... :sad:

Mi-Ra lost 6-7(3) 0-6 to Seda Noorlander (NED) in the 1st rd of qualifying at Auckland. :sad:

The 2nd set score is quite disturbing. I'm inclined to think something physically was disturbing her. Touch wood. :sad:

I hope she's playing doubles with Yoon-Jeong though. Any sort of match practice (if she isn't injured) is good for her at the moment. :)

Hi all~~ :wavey: Happy New Year~~~ :D

Mi-ra left a message on her board finally. :)

Mi-ra said she was OK physically. She said she didn't lose that match due to injury. She said she could have won the first set if she could manage some points. She's saying she feels sorry for her fans who might have thought her having a injury in 2nd set due to the scoreline. She said she's embarrased by that.
Mi-ra said she thinks she can do better in the next event. She said she would leave for Australlia on Wednesday and enter a quali for an aussie event on Friday. ( I think it would be Canberra Classic,... I think she is in waiting list for quali though. Hope that she can get a spot. )

BTW,.. it's nice to know she is not having an injury. :D

Go, Mi-ra~~ :D

Thanks for the news, Eric. :wavey:

I'm very relieved that it wasn't an injury. ;)
Hobart is a weaker event than Canberra despite both being Tier V, but I'm sure she'll make the cut-offs. :)

Mi-Ra lost to WC-Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 4-6 5-7, a 17 year old in the 1st rd of qualies at Canberra. :sad:

It must have been humiliating for her... :mad:

Let's hope things magically turn around for her at Aus Open qualies which begin on Thursday. :)

Hi, danker~~ :wavey:

I hope so. :D

It should be really humiliating for her,.... I was expecting a match against Mashona. :( And she didn't left any message. :o

YJ Cho said she would play doubles (in MD) in Canberra. Hope Mi-ra is playing doubles, too ,..before Aussie open quali.

She will bounce back. I believe~~ :D

Go, Mi-ra~~
:bounce:

Casey DELLACQUA (AUS) bt Mashona Washington (USA) 6-3, 6-4

The girl, Casey, can play.... I'm somewhat relieved by the news. ;) Mi-ra didn't lost to a nobody,... at least. :angel:

That's a good idea to play doubles :) . It will be a good warm-up :).

And I am not excessively worried about Mi-Ra present results : it is only the begining of the season and though I did not followed much during my holidays, I think Mi-Ra did not train much during the inter-season :confused: . Results will certainly come later on, hopefully in Australia :) .

Yoon-Jeong is starting well on her side. I hope she'll win a WTA tourney this year :D .

I worry much more about my return flight :sad: : Paris airport is nearly closed because of the heavy snow and wind :eek: . I am therefore stuck at the airport and no one knows when the traffic will resume :( . Besides, lounges in Paris are crap compared to the Asian ones :rolleyes: .

Hi, Steveg~ :wavey:

As for playing doubles, YJ Cho chose another partner, Serra, than Mi-ra. :mad: :sad:
She didn't have much training during the off-season due to knee and wrist injury,.... cold weather as well. :( But you're right, it's just beginning of new season. Hopefully she can practice well before Aussie Open.

YJ Cho is doing quite well. I visited her fan site and read her interviews to get some info on Mi-ra. And I found that she has a good attitude for an professional athelete and a fighting spirit (till the last point) which Mi-ra needs to have. I think Cho can be another 'Anna Smashnova' this season.
Her former team-mate & roommate, Sung-Hee Park, mentioned about Cho like this. "When we have training,.. she is just like so-so player,.. but when we play a match,.. she is doing much better than expected." I think that's the perfect words for Cho,... furthermore, she is getting more confidence.
But for me,... she's just another good player,.... due to my loyalty for Mi-ra. :o ;)

We had heavy snow in recent days in Seoul,... and some small local airports are closed. Hopefully, you will have comfortable and safe return flight soon.

:)

Hello Eric :wavey: .

No doubt about it ;) : Mi-Ra is a fine person.

But there is something about Yoon-Jeong : she seems to be extremely positive and has some charisma :) .

Too bad they did not play doubles together :sad: .

I eventually got my plane with 6 hours delay :rolleyes: . The snow + one passenger that went missing : his luggage had to be removed from the plane :mad: .

No snow here ;) . But it's good to have some (except if you must take a plane). There was something like 3 - 4 cm of snow at the Paris airport last Saturday.

Hello all :wavey:

Personally, I'm not too disappointed with Mi-Ra not playing doubles. If she did well in it, she would have to skip Aus Open qualies. (eg. Wynne Prakusya in 2001). At least this will give her time to fly to Melbourne early and get accustomed to the environment (climate, courts, etc).

BTW, welcome back Stephane. Hope you enjoyed your trip. :wavey:

Thanks Luke. it was however one of my worst flights ever :( .

hello Eric :wavey: , would you have the link to Yoon-Jeonghim fan site please :) (I assume it is in Korean but never mind ;) ).

Mi-Ra the 18th seed will play Mara Santangelo (ITA) in the 1st rd of qualies at Aus Open tomorrow. I'll be following it live of course. Let's hope her luck changes tomorrow. :cool:

As for Yoon-Jeong's site, you have to be a member to even view the messages. :rolleyes:
I don't have the link though... :sad:

Zheng Jie will be playing at the same time I think (2nd match of day 1). I don't know which match I'll be following :sad: .

Mi-ra lost her 1st set. :sad:

But her stats are very good,.. more winners than her opponent and more net approach & success at net. :D

Go, Mi-ra!!

You can win~~~
:bounce:


PS : Sorry for not replying other questions now,... I'm come back later.

:sad: :sad: :mad:

Mi-ra lost in 2nd set tie break.... But stats show that Mi-ra played aggressively.

Better result will come soon.

Better luck, next time.
:wavey:

Mi-Ra...what was going on? Yes, she did play more agressive maybe but what I wanted was the final outcome...as winner...Oh, well...better be smarter next time!:( :eek: :sad:

Most of the stats seem to favour Mi-Ra, including winners and unforced errors, so it seems strange that she lost. It's possible that Santangelo forced her into making errors instead... :sad:

I'm quite disappointed because this was the best chance I could have had to see her play on TV at least. :sad:

Originally posted by Steveg
hello Eric :wavey: , would you have the link to Yoon-Jeonghim fan site please :) (I assume it is in Korean but never mind ;) ).

Hi, Steveg :wavey:

Sorry for late reply. I needed some time to regroup after Mi-ra's loss. :angel:

As danker mentioned, YJ Cho's fan site requires membership for reading & writing unlike Mi-ra's which requires only for writing.
The link is http://cafe.daum.net/7942CHO 7942 sounds like 'buddy stuff' in Korean. The most posters are YJ's friend (mainly atheletes in some sports) and YJ write often. I was wondering to hear that you don't mind reading Korean. :eek: ;)

Hello, all :wavey:

I'm sure Mi-ra is very sad and miserable now. :sad: She promised to try her very best in Aussie open to return fan's love & support. Since 2003 season,... her record is 0-3. :sad:

Hopefully she can regroup and get back her confidence soon.

Followings are Mi-ra's stat from Aussie open. Her 2nd set stats looks quite good,.... 19 winners in the 2nd and net attack 11 times with 82% success. She must have trained net attack much during the off season like YJ Cho did,... cause they share same coach,... a former serve and volley style female player, Kim.
It's good sign,... her aggression will make more UEs for the time being,... but it can make Mi-ra to break into top ranking sooner or later.
:D


**** Mi-ra's stats of Aussie quali ****
opponent Mi-ra
1st Serve % 50 of 81 = 62 % 54 of 75 = 72 %
Aces 3 0
Double Faults 1 0
Unforced Errors 32 30
Winning % on 1st Serve 34 of 50 = 68 % 27 of 54 = 50 %
Winning % on 2nd Serve 14 of 31 = 45 % 16 of 21 = 76 %
Winners (Including Service) 25 28
Break Point Conversions 4 of 9 = 44 % 2 of 3 = 67 %
Net Approaches 17 of 24 = 71 % 11 of 14 = 79 %
Total Points Won 80 76

http://www.wtatour.com/assets/personnel_image/mug305.jpg Here's Mi-Ra photo with the new WTA logo.

And here's her latest message posted on Jan 11th in her message board :

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I hope she is not too disappointed with her Oz results :sad: .

Thanks for the link Eric :) . I said I did not mind if the site was in Korean, not that I did not mind reading Korean ;) . I'll get some translation or ask Yoon-Jeong to post in English:angel: (she needs to practice her English ;) ).

Originally posted by Steveg
I hope she is not too disappointed with her Oz results :sad: .


Hi, Steveg. :wavey:
I have to say that she's very disappointed now. :sad: I visited her fan site, too. And I read the message. :sad: I feel a deep sympathy for Mi-ra. :sad:

She even said "Though you might be doubtful of my professionalism,.. I was afraid of being in the court at the Aussie open quali match cause I didn't have any rhythm or feeling on her body and hand ,... ." :sad:

She was seen in an Olympic park tennis court (outdoor) practicing alone by one of the posters last Saturday. :sad: In this freezing weather,... she was there in a snow dumped court. :eek: :mad:
Just hope she will not have any injury due to heavy pracitce session in this cold weather,.. and she can be optimistic and get back her confidence,..soon.

Go, Mi-ra~~
:bounce:

Thanks Eric, I assume from your remark that Mi-Ra is now back in Korea :eek: . I hope she'll find some comfort from her familly and friends :D .

Tell her to come in Vietnam and practice with me :p :

1) It is hot here
2) She'll get her confidence back in no time ;)

Anyway, all the best to her. I hope she won't have too many doubts as confidence is a key factor in her game.

Hi, Steveg :wavey:

Yes, Mi-ra got back to Seoul after the loss. She said she didn't want to stay there even a day after the loss,.. She said after her return,.. she met some people asking why you're here not in Australia? something like that. She felt sooo sorry for them and very humiliated. You know,... in Korea,... there's kind of "tennis boom" thanks to HT Lee's recent victory. They broadcast his match live all over the country. :eek: And even many people in my office are talking about tennis, :eek: not golf or soccer or baseball. :D

Her home is far from Seoul where she lives and trains. And her team's staff are in Australia now. :sad:

I guess your idea, training in Vietnam with you would be better one, if I cam accompany her. :D ;)

Anyway,.. I believe she'll bouce back after this setback.
:D

Eric, you are of course welcome to come too :) . When are the two of you arriving :D ?

This being said, I hope Mi-Ra will feel better soon AND will come back in Vietnam in for the Challenger tournament in April :) .

Thanks for the brief explanation Eric :wavey:
I'm surprised Mi-Ra is not practising Indoors. :eek: I'm presuming her next tournament is Tokyo (Tier I) which is Indoors so it would be ideal if she practised on carpet... :confused:
Yeah, Kunsan is quite a long way from Seoul. :sad: I wonder if all her relatives are living there? :confused:

BTW, that WTA profile pic of Mi-Ra was actually taken in 1998. :eek:

I assume that Mi-Ra wanted to practice outdoor for "self-punishment" :sad: .

I do hope she feels better now and is ready to kick some b... balls I mean ;) .

Hi, danker :wavey:

You're right. Her next schedule is Japan. She said in her message that she will leave for Japan on 23rd Jan. I'm afraid that she can't get a quali spot,.... cause she is #16 in the quali waiting list. And as you know,.. the competition in the quali would be very tough, I guess. I think Mi-ra needs confidence not another setback these days. But Mi-ra said "I will forget everything happend and try my best then good results would follow,.. hopefully." in her messsage above. I hope so.

As for the outdoor training,.. itt's quite weird for me. Actually in this freezing weather,.. you really can't hit the ball well,.. and may be prone to injury. :( Mi-ra used to train in indoor court in Yang-Jae in winter,... but I have no idea why she was there... :rolleyes: Even though there are newly built indoor court there,.. but Mi-ra was seen on outdoor court.
As for carpet court preparation,.. I don't think it's easy to find that kind of facility for her,...


Hi, Steveg :wavey:
I don't think that is a kind of self-punishment, (hopefully, :sad: )... but if she work too hard or too much,.. it wouldn't be any good.

Go, Mi-ra!
:bounce:

Hi Eric :wavey:

I have no worries that Mi-Ra will make the qualifying draw. The qualies for Tokyo is usually very weak, and the cutoffs end up very low. The entry list came out over a month ago, and I'm sure there have been many withdrawals since then. :)

Here are the qualifying cutoffs for previous years:

2002 : 269
2001 : 656
2000 : 394
1999 : 216

I certainly hope she does well there. :D

BTW, I know you're not a supporter, but do you know what's up with Eun-Ha Kim? I haven't heard any news about her in ages. :sad:

Thanks for the info regarding quali, danker :wavey:
I'm relieved now. :D

As for the Eun-ha Kim, I have know idea what's going on now. :confused: Maybe a month ago, there was a dispute between her and her manager, and those stories went out to public after their long term relationship. Eun-ha Kim posted a message on a tennis Korea website, which is public site,... and she asked her contract with him to be canceled,... cause she would like to join a team. After that no news,.. and her fan site is not working... So I have no way to find further info. :(

As for not being a supporter..... ;) Maybe she's not one of my favorites,.. I hope she has a good luck.
Actually, I have only one favorite among Korean player,.... It's Mi-ra. But I do have interest on many other players,.. So-jung Kim, Jin-young Choi, Kyung-mi Chang, Hyung-Taik Lee, Mi-Ok Kim, Eun-ha Kim, Yoon-Jeong Cho, Ye-ra Lee,... and new one, Mari Anderson. :D But they are not my fave yet, I would like to cheer for them, though. ;) The problem is I'm kind of lazy for that,...so I can afford to do for all of them. :o ;)

Thanks Eric for the news regarding Eun-Ha. I hope there's something new soon... :sad:

Do you have interest on Kyung-Mi and Kyung-Yee as well? ;)
This is Mi-Ra's thread, but just letting you know Kyung-Mi'll be playing American Challengers starting next week. :)

I hope Mi-Ra's still playing India after Tokyo. I think she has a great chance to qualify there, and it'll also be her first time going there.

Hello, all~~ :wavey:

I got some bad news. :(

The worst thing I've imagined just happened. :( :sad:
I visited Mi-ra's fan site expecting a message from her.. none from her. One of her fans posted a message which's saying Mi-ra got injured and is doing rehab now. :sad:
You need to be very cautious when you're training in cold weather. Mi-ra must have been doing too much to get out of the slump. Too much pressure on her.... :sad:

I saw the 3rd set of YJ Cho's match. I had to find a place to watch TV cause I couldn't turn on my TV in my office in work hour. ;) Anyway,... I was an another ugly match along with HT Lee's against Agassi. :(
After reading her post match interview, I learned that she got injured and cramped. :( She said she had received a sign to retire from the match from her coach,... but she decided to hang in there. I guess, she did her best under the circumstances.
And the poster said Mi-ra had worried soooo much about YJ Cho. How sweet and nice of her! :)

Anyway, if one of YJ Cho or HT Lee had won the match,.... the tennis boom in Korea could have been great~~. It just finished as a 2 week drama. I guess I lost some good chance to have more TV coverage for tennis match for a while. :( :mad:

Get well soon, Mi-ra~~~
:bounce:

Hi, danker :wavey:

I do have some interest on them. ;) :D And I'm sure Mi-ra will allow for you to post some news of other Korean girls here, dedicated Mi-ra's cheering thread. ;) Cause Mi-ra is a kind of senior female player so she cares and supports her junior players much including Kyung-Mi & Kyung-Hee. I learned that most Korean younger & junior players repect and cheer for Mi-ra in Korea. :)

I hope Mi-ra will play Tokyo and India, both. (and I want her to play in the Middle-east as well. ) But as I mentioned Mi-ra got injury,.... so we'll see.

Have a good day~~
:D

Thanks for all these news Eric. Yoon-Jeong is the kind of person who would prefer to litterally die on a court rather than give up. That's good because it shows she fights until the end, but it's bad because she could recover faster if she'd let it go sometimes.

This is real bad news for Mi-Ra :sad: . I hope she'll take advantage of her resting time to recompose herself :) .

Hi, Steveg :wavey:

You're welcome. It's my pleasure. :) I would like to post as much news as I know,.... but my news source is very limited. :(

Anyway,... we (Mi-ra & me ) have no choice but to postpone our visit to Vietnam due to the injury. ;)

Have a good day in warm country. ( from freezing country)
:wavey:

Hi Eric :wavey:

Thanks for the news, but how awful for Mi-Ra... :sad:
I hope the rehab goes well, because Tokyo is a huge opportunity for points and $$$. Do you know what sort of injury it is? :confused:

Unfortunately, she's not in the commitments for the Gulf tourneys, and neither is YJ Cho. I think they'll take the week off after India and then go to the US. Both are committed to Indian Wells as well. :)

Get well soon, Mi-Ra :wavey:

It's likely then that Mi-Ra will stay in the USA in April, instead of playing in Asia like last year :( . I would have thought however that she would want to participate at the $25K in Korea (Apr 28) :confused: .

I think Mi-Ra will only stay in the US for over a month, then return home.

$25K Korea has been moved to June and around the same time as RG, so I don't think she'll defend her title. :(

I'm sure she'll play the 2 $50K tourneys in Japan right after Fed Cup in Tokyo as she has plenty of points to defend.

And she certainly won't try her luck in Vietnam :( , which is my main concern ;) .

Hi, all~~ :wavey:

Still no news from Mi-ra. :( I've visited almost every tennis related sites everyday to find some info on Mi-ra,.. but nothing.

I just learned that she had a brief weekend trip according to some poster's message. And she's likely to go to Japan this Thursday(23rd) for qualies with YJ Cho according to Cho's message.

There was kind of welcome ceremony at the airport for HT Lee and YJ Cho, and it was shown in prime time news hours here. :eek: And we can have live Aussie open coverage around 4 or 5 hours a day for the first time in years. :bounce: My faves are not playing there, though.... But more tennis coverage is always welcomed. ;) I could even watch Martina Hingis's bobsleigh scene on TV. :hearts:

As for YJ Cho,..(to show I have some interest on her..... to danker ;) ),.. in her interview at the airport, she said she postponed her surgery for her protruding chin from March to September ,..sometime after US open. She said she had been suffering poor stamina due to her abnormal chin which had been bothered her eating. And she said that her goal for this year are winning a WTA title and reaching third round in a slam again. :eek:

Any info on other players are not available now,... they're all talking about Lee and Cho. :angel:

I didn't know that there would be Fed cup match in Tokyo. Hope that Mi-ra will play singles and doubles with Mi-Ok Kim there winning both. :D

Go, Mi-ra~~~
:D

Thanks for the news Eric, regarding both Mi-Ra...and Yoon-Jeong ;) . I had not realised her chin was that big last time I saw her :confused: .

I am not satisfied with the Fed Cup dates, since it means several Asian players won't be in Hochiminh City the week before :( . This will probably include Mi-Ra :sad: .

Unless she definitely won't play again team events for her country :confused: . I think this had been mentioned earlier for the Asian Games ?

Thanks Eric for the info. :wavey:

I'm very happy that HT & YJ got a warm reception upon their arrival home. :)

I had thought YJ Cho already got her surgery done last year... :eek:
No wonder, because in the Pattaya pic, her chin looked the same. :o
However, I still don't understand how it could affect her stamina? :confused:

Anyway, hope Mi-Ra's feeling better now. ;)

Originally posted by Steveg
Unless she definitely won't play again team events for her country :confused: . I think this had been mentioned earlier for the Asian Games ?

Hi, Steveg :wavey:

Mi-ra never said that kind of thing. :eek: ;) She's been always supportive for representing her country. But she was not selected many times for some reasons. (political reason in KTA )
I think that's what HT Lee said. He was critisized by that decision right before and after the Asian Games,... there was big dispute on that and between HT Lee's team-mates and the captain of National team. At the airport interview several days back, HT Lee confirmed that he has no intention to join National team this years as well,.... ( maybe until he has new captain. ;) )

Anyway, HT Lee, YJ Cho and Mi-ra belong to the same team,.. so it can affect some. And the captain of femal National team is quite notorious for hard training in Sparta style. I could read some articles on the Tennis Magazine here,... and was upset about the story from Mi-ok Kim and others. :(

I'm not happy about the schedule, too. I think Mi-ra would have loved to defend her finalist points there. She mentioned that that's where she started believe in herself and got confidence back. :)

We'll see what would happen. :D

Originally posted by danker
I had thought YJ Cho already got her surgery done last year... :eek:
No wonder, because in the Pattaya pic, her chin looked the same. :o
However, I still don't understand how it could affect her stamina? :confused:


I had thought so too. In her recent interview, I learned that she had started orthodontic treatment as a preparation for the surgery. She mentioned she could take the surgery after completion of the orthodontic stuff. ( I mean teeth reform? )
And I'm kind of confused about the stamina stuff. But that's what exactly her coach and herself told in interview. She's saying she have problem of eating due to her abnormal chin,.. and as a result of that,.. she has poor nutrition and poor stamina. Anyway I don't get it. :rolleyes:
I had thought she was advised to take that surgery for better atheletic performance. Some sports medical doctors said one cannot make the best prompt power with that chin on TV after some surgeries on Table tennis stars here. And the atheletes who had that surgery said they had a great benefit from the surgery in performing power and.... better looks as well. ;)
That's all I know. :o

Mi-ra has not left any message on her fan site. I'm still worrying about her rehab.

Only great tennis news from Aussie open is So-jung Kim won her singles and double match yesterday. :( Mari Andersson and Taiwanese girl, Y Chan and Ji-young Kim all lost in the 1st round. :(
I learned that Mari Andersson was born in Seoul, Korea and then adopted to a Swede family. Hope she can have some good lucks in her future.
As for So-jung,... the dispute on her contract is still going on and getting more ugly,... which hampered her career during the last 1 and half year,... I wondered how she could perform well in Australlia under these circumstances ... In a public tennis sites, her father claimed that she cried on the phone from Aussie due to the bitterness. :sad:
I watched her game live several times,... and I think she has the most potential among juniors since Mi-ra. :D

Go, girls~~~
:bounce:

Thanks Eric,

I must have heard that elsewhere for Mi-Ra ;) . But I hope she'll continue to play for her country... and come back to Vietnam nevertheless :D .

:o Do you think it would be possible to leave a message on her website asking her if she'll come back to Vietnam mid-April :confused: .

I think Mi-Ra must be happy that her chin is already at a nice shape. ;)

So-Jung lost today to Casey Dellacqua, the same player who beat ... Mi-Ra at Canberra. :eek: :o
She won in doubles with Ji-Young though. :)

Eric, what do you think of Da-Jung Hong? :confused:
There seemed to be a lot of hype on her a few years ago, but now So-Jung seems to get more attention...

Hi, danker :wavey:

I knew So-jung lost,.. but didn't know it was the same player. :eek: I just thought the name, Dellacqua, was kind of familiar to me, though. :o

I guess Da-jung Hong and other juniors such as HS Lyu and YM Jung are consistent enough as a junior,... but they really don't have weapons for professional competition, I think.
But So-jung has some weapons, big and flat forehand, early ball taking and smart court usage unlike others,.. and taller. I saw above players' matches several times,... I believe SJ Kim is the one to watch. She's been suffering from the management contract issue,.. so couldn't get good training over the last year,... so it would be the big factor this year as well.
So-jung chose the same high school where Da-jung had been ace for the team. Now one year younger So-jung replaced the spot in the school,.. so it wouldn't be any good for Da-jung. I learned that it's a big deal for the high school girls. ;)

So, there's no more hypes on her or any other juniors here, but Ye-ra Lee and So-jung Kim.
:D

Originally posted by Steveg
I must have heard that elsewhere for Mi-Ra ;) . But I hope she'll continue to play for her country... and come back to Vietnam nevertheless :D .


I know you have variety source of tennis related information unlike me. ;)
But here,.. it's kind of taboo that a (female) player wouldn't play for his/her country. That's why HT Lee was critisized by people after claiming that he wouldn't join National team after the dispute on the national team captain selection.
If Mi-ra or any other female player had said like that,... they will be banned for good,.. maybe. Cause Fed cup is not a big deal here,.. so the captain can say we have soooo many players who would die for the selection,... no better than you, though. :p
And it's quite political and diplomatic stuff rather than WTA ranking for player selection. :angel:
And in some ways, WTA ranking doesn't reflect the competence of a player in Korea. (maybe in China or Taiwan as well.) For example, former top 60 player, Sung-Hee Park was not #1 player in local event. JY Choi always beat Park whenever they play each other,.. but her team didn't support overseas play much,... so she coudn't get proper WTA ranking for that.
That's why the team selection of junior players is sooo important. :eek: If they once have joined a team,.... she can't just get out of there,.. unless retires her career. It's very rare case to change their team.
It had hampered Mi-ra's career,... and now So-jung Kim's. :sad: :mad:

BTW,... I asked Mi-ra about entering Vietnam challenger this April,.. but she didn't wrote any message so far,.. so we need to be more patient.

:D

Thanks for posting Eric :) . I suppose Mi-Ra will post something when during her next tourney :D .

Thanks for the info Eric. :wavey:

I feel very sorry for So-Jung. :sad:
She finally lost in doubles today, so I guess it'll be a while until she plays next time...

I also sympathise for Jin-Young who played so well in Seah Steel Cup last year, but hardly ever plays overseas. :(

It's already the 24th today, so I'm presuming Mi-Ra must have left for Tokyo yesterday, that's if she decided to play. I hope so...

Hi, Steveg & danker :wavey:

I'm really worried about Mi-ra and her recent injury. She had said she would leave a message before leaving for Japan in her previous message. And she usually leave a message before going abroad. But still none. :( YJ Cho left a message she would take a flight to Japan on 23rd,.. but no mention about Mi-ra.
I visited the Japanese site,.. but no mention about the players for qualifying. :( They only mention Kaori won a WC for qualifying, Obata won a WC for MD,.. and brief interview from Obata.
Hopefully,... we can get quali draw soon.

As for So-jung,.. it will take sooo long before her next match. It's kind of off-season for tennis due to cold weather.....
Due to the dispute during the past one and half year,... she didn't get any coaching but ordinary school team training and her participation for pro event were limited,.. cause they are against the contract. :( So,... just waste of time & talent. :mad:

As for Ji-young,... she is supposed to join a team,.. and are training there already as far as I know,.. so she will focus on domestic matches according to the team policy,... same situation with Su-jin Kim. :(
Ji-young is the most energetic girl among juniors here and she could have been great if she had cut down the UE's and had gotten more support.

Go, Mi-ra wherever you are.
:bounce:

Thanks for the news Eric :wavey: ,

from the draw, it looks like Mi-Ra is in Japan now :D . But she is not posting anything on her board :confused: . Anyway, she is hopefully now fully focused on her tomorrow match :) .

That's a tough draw for her :( .

Very relieved to see Mi-Ra in the draw. :o

She'll play Akiko Kinebuchi whom she has a good record against. All I'm hoping is that she's 100% fit. Hopefully the fast surface will suit her game. :cool:

BTW Eric, do you know if Mi-Hee Chung found a team yet? I'm so disappointed she decided not to follow Eun-Ha's advice. :(

Hello, all :wavey:

I'm really relieved to know Mi-ra is playing. Win or loose,.. it doesn't matter now. Victory would be preferred, though. ;)

danker : I have no idea about the Mi-Hee Chung's recent story. There are few sources for junior and domestic players. :( :mad:
But Eun-ha also gave up her individual(or independent) professional career,... so... :(

Go, Mi-ra~~
:bounce:

Congrats, Mi-Ra...You won against Akiko Kinebuchi not Tamagochi, right? 64 75! Good show, Mi-Ra! Keep going...and fight Irina!:) :cool: :D :wavey: :bounce:

Congrats to Mi-Ra on her 1st victory of 2003. :cool:

It was closer than I expected, but Mi-Ra's must have been rusty & not fully confident.

Irina Selyutina will be a tougher opponent, but winnable IMO. I just hope Mi-Ra gives her all tomorrow. :)

Congratulations, Mi-ra~~~
You did a good job!!! :D

It's good to know she fought back from 1-3 deficit in the 2nd set.

I'm going to go snow mountain this morning and all day tracking to enjoy the snowy scenery,... so I wouldn't be on-line. Hope that I can find good news when I get back home.

Go, Mi-ra~~
:bounce:

Lucky you Eric :D . I do envy you. I have not skied for years now and I am starting to miss it :sad: .

Nice to see a straight foreward win for Mi-Ra. :)
Have fun Eric. .... be careful as well! :)

Mi-Ra beat Selyutina 7-5 6-2 :D

Congrats on your win today! Now, you can beat Kristie Boogert and be in MD! Best of luck...:) :wavey: :cool: :wavey:

Well done Mi-Ra, a very tough match against Boogert, but I don't see why she's not capable of winning that match. :)

BTW, if she wins, she'll have to attend the Players' Media Conference Evening Gala on Monday night. All the players dress glamorously for the event, while they answer questions & present themselves to the guests. ;)

Hello, all~~ :wavey:

I'm soooo glad to know Mi-ra won over Irina. I thought it'd be tough for Mi-ra. But she did it. I thing the key was winning 2 games at 5 all in the 1st set. Maybe it shows Mi-ra's mental toughness is getting better. :D

Steveg: :wavey: I didn't go to the snowy mountain for skiing this time. I enjoyed snow mountain tracking. I saw some people enjoying mountain ski which is looked like a combination of cross-country ski & downhill ski. Hope that I visit the place with that someday.

V.Melb : :wavey: Thanks for your sweet words to Mi-ra & me,.. I really did have fun there,... and it could have been somewhat dangerous as well,.. cause I had gone too far,.. somewhere nobody could see me and my waist-high depth snow. :o

danker : I'm not sure that Mi-ra prepared a glamourous dress for the event. But I wouldn't mind that kind of embarrasment Mi-ra would have if she wins. I hope it happens! ;)

Go, Mi-ra~~
:bounce:

Yup yup yup...Mi-Ra gets in to MD! Congrats, babe...She defeated Boogert 26 63 75...Great fight!!! Keep going Mi-Ra! Good 4U...It is great to know that you are getting better and better!:cool: :wavey: :bounce: :kiss:

Great job, Mi-ra~~~ :D

It will be a great confidence boost for Mi-ra :D
Now she must be worried about the dress for tonight. ;)
But don't worry,... whatever you wear,.. you will be the best dresser tonight. :angel:

Go, Mi-ra!!
:bounce:

It would be very easy for someone with Mi-Ra's body to find a nice dress.... she is very attractive. This must do wonders for her confidence...... 3 wins in a row.... and a big comeback in her last match.... she must be in a great mood :)
KEEP GOING MI-RA! :kiss:

Do you think she wanted to enter badly the main draw to be at this glamour party ;) . I look forward to the photos now :D .

Good luck Mi-Ra in the MD!!:)

I'm incredibly happy for Mi-Ra! :bounce:

It's the 1st time she's qualified for a Tier I event, and I really hope she 'enjoyed' tonight. ;)

Eric, you got your wish as she'll play Angie in the 1st rd. :sad:

I'm not happy with the match-up, but I'm supporting Mi-Ra this match for sure. :D

Wow,.. my wish came true,.. finally,... it's been years this kind of thing happen to me. It had 25% possibility, though.

This match against Angie would be real BIG one for Mi-ra. I'm shaking now.

Gooooooo, Mi-ra!!
:bounce:

It looks like it brought luck to Mi-Ra, not posting anything on her website ;) .

All the best to her this Wednesday :D . She is getting closer to direct admittance in MD for GS. A couple of good tournament like that and she'll get her direct admittance :D .

I am certain that Yoon-Jeong will have given Mi-Ra loads of tips on how to play Angelique ;) .

Still I want a message from Mi-ra!!! ;)

I think she is sooo determined now,.. and that's mostly like the reason why she didn't leave any message, I guess. I could sense that in her previous message and from her lone hard training in the snow dumped court.

My wish is still on the way,.. My wish is not beating Angie,.. but beating Jelena and making some noise on the sport section headlines here. :D I think this is life time opportunity to beat a top player. Jelena may be somewhat rusty,.. and Mi-ra's game is soooo suitable for Jelena's style.
I'm sorry for Angie to say like this. I heard many good things about her,.. even from a volunteer of Busan Asian games last year,... I would have cheered for her if she were to play against anyone else not Mi-ra. :sad:

I'm sleepy now,.. got to go.

Go, Mi-ra~~~~ You can win if you believe in yourself.
:bounce:

Well, all the best to Mi-Ra. I hope she won't forget to beat Angelique before winning against Jelena ;) .

As you say, I am certain Mi-Ra is 100% focused now :) . And the surface certainly suits her game (not as much as Stéphanie ;) , but still.. :) ).

Good luck to Mi-Ra in tomorrow's match. :)

Eric, I hope your dream of Mi-Ra beating Jelena won't jinx her tomorrow. :o

Eric jinxed Mi-Ra :sad: :p . And I lost in the "beat the experts" stuff :sad: .

:sad:

Mi-ra lost. :sad: Hope she is not too disappointed with the today's result. And sorry for jinxing Mi-ra,.. :o

Maybe I underestimated Angie's development. She used her volleys to close out the points so many times today, and it should be tough for Mi-ra. From the match I've watched her game last time, Angie used moon-ball game against more solid baseliner Su-wei and from recent matches against Cho,.. Cho didn't gave much credit to Angie's game,... so I was just thinking about Jelena. :o ;)
Angie did a good job today,.. and she deserved a win. Good luck against Jelena~~ :)

Mi-ra needs to find a solution for volleyers from this experience,... but there are not much volleyers around her for enough practice. That's why Vanessa Webb is doing very well against Korean players and Mi-ra. :(

Go, Mi-ra,.. & leave a message when you get home.
:D

I can understand your dissapointment..But I am sure, MRJ is very dissapointed as a player...:cool:

Regarding moon-ball, actually Angie is not using that oftenly...She uses it when she needs to...it depends on what kind of opponent she has...As far as I know, at Asian Games, she was instructed to use moonball against Japanese players and against Cho...The instruction came from Suzanna, the head coach of Indonesian team at that time...Suzanna is actually Wynne's private coach...Hoenstly, I hate moonball and when I saw on TV that Angie used it at Ag Busan...I was really mad myself...But it seemed that it could work in certain extent if power hitter player is on the opposite of the net...So, she may use it sometimes as part of her game strategy! Surprise surprise for her opponent...unpredictable that is what Angie likes to do on the court...She still has to improve many things...and she has been imrpoving...she still needs to develop more weapons! Go Asian tennis!!!:cool: :wavey: :) :bounce:

Up to this point, Angie leads 3-0 against Korean top players...(twice versus Cho and once versus Jeon):cool: :wavey:

Yes,.. Angie is developing fast since I saw her last time. I didn't and couldn't watch today's match,.. but I learned that she used many volleys and drop shots to break Mi-ra's balance from point by point live score. Good for her.
Actually, today I think Mi-ra should have used kind of lobs against Angie,.. cause Mi-ra doesn't take the balls that early,.. so using lobs against Angie would have been helped her.
But after severe criticism after using moon-ball strategy in a match against moon-ball queen, JY Choi last year, Mi-ra said she wouldn't use that. I think that's not smart choise in strategy aspect. :(
Angie needs to use another strategy against Jelena,.. I think using volley strategy against power ball strikers like Lindsay,Monica and Jelena wouldn't have much chance. Good luck to Angie, again.

Now,.. I'm just can be content with Mi-ra's not giving up the match until the end.

Go, Mi-ra~~
:bounce:

Mi-ra is playing Indian Open next week. And fortunately she entered MD with cut-off ranking. Hope it can be a start of good luck for Mi-ra. :D

Moreover she can spend Korean New year's day (1st of Feb.) with her family. It can be a great relaxation for Mi-ra~~ :)

Have a nice holiday~~, Mi-ra!
:)

You are right Eric :) . Mi-Ra needs to learn to take the ball early, especially these high balls :( . If she could hit also driving volleys from the middle of the court and follow to the net, other players would stop using this tactic against her.

I think Mi-Ra does not feel very confident at the net though.

Eric :wavey:

Mi-Ra has listened to you and posted something. Any reply regarding Hochiminh City :confused: .Áö±ÝÀº ³ª¸®Å¸ °øÇ×À̱¸¿ä..

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ÀϺ»¿¡¼_ ¹Ì¶ó...*^.^*At least, she seems to be happy now :D .

Congrats to Mi-Ra on a good week. :)
I was hoping she'd push Angie a little more, but she'll certainly get better against these Top 100 players.

Somehow, I don't think Mi-Ra will be able to celebrate New Year's with her family on Saturday as Indian Open starts on Monday. Travelling to Hyderabad is not so straight forward as she'll probably have to transit somewhere first. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she's still in Japan at the moment...

BTW, I saw that Mi-Ra is not committed for the $25K Challenger in the US on 17 Feb, nor is she for Memphis in the Initial List. Perhaps she'll be starting the US tour the week after... :confused:

Hi, Steveg. :wavey:

Yes, Mi-ra finally left a message for her fans. It's somewhat funny that Mi-ra and Cho, both left messages for their fans at the Narita Airport in Japan waiting for their flight home. They must have been eager to log on their fan sites. ;)
Sorry, Steveg... no reply regarding Hochiminh City this time. But Mi-ra will have sooo much free time before the challenger event,.. so I'll ask her again. But I don't think she can make the decision by herself. Cause it's kind of an authority of her team's headcoach if he concerns. I don't think even HT Lee is deciding his
schedule by himself without consent of his coach's like Cho and Mi-ra. :(
We'll see.

I will attempt to translate her messages again,.. but please don't expect better one than I do, .. with my poor English. ;)


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Title : You guys get news sooo early. (astonished tone)
I'm at the Narrita airport now. I'm waiting for 5 o'clock flight home. You must be very busy cause the holiday will start tomorrow.
I could have gone to Korea yesterday but due to the India Visa issue, I can go back there now. You should know the result of the tour. I'm just astonished that you know soo much about the results and how the match went on more than I do,.. the one who actually played. I think I didn't play smart game yester but simple one,... so I couldn't play a winning game even though I had some chances.
I'll have one day rest in Korea and then I'm going to leave for India on Saturday. After the Indian open, I'll do training for better conditioning with cancelling all the tournaments in US.
It would be around one and half or two month period.
I have some injuries in my body maybe due to cold weather or my poor body care.
I'm going to aim for top 100 or higher this year after this training period with healthy and stronger form. This year, the lunar new year holidays are short, so many people who are going their rural hometown would be somewhat in a hurry,.. but I wish you all would go to your hometown with smiling face and relaxed mindset.
Mi-ra will go to India for point hunting and come back with some good news hopefully.
Wish you all have merry & happy Lunar new year's holiday.

from Mi-ra in Japan *^.^*
+++++++++++++++++++

Wow,.. I really got to study English again. :o Without my dictionary S/W,.. it's really hard to translate cause I'm using my brother's PC now. And I guess,... translate from English to Korean is much easier for me. ;)

:D

Thanks Eric :wavey:,

I don't know why you are not satisfied with your English :confused: . It's crystal clear ;) .

I am surprised by Mi-Ra remark regarding match comments by her fans :confused: . Is it ironical or she can not analyse her own matches?

Bad to hear that she has some injuries again :sad: . She should use the services of a physio more often ;) . And indeed take better care of her body :) . I am not certain she does a lot of physical training :confused: . But using 1.5 to 2 months to work on that and heal her injuries is certainly a good decision :) .

Well, I hope too that she'll post soon... good news from India :D !!!

Originally posted by danker
BTW, I saw that Mi-Ra is not committed for the $25K Challenger in the US on 17 Feb, nor is she for Memphis in the Initial List. Perhaps she'll be starting the US tour the week after... :confused:

Hi, danker :wavey:

You would know why there is no commitment from Mi-ra in US after reading her message above.

I'm wondering Mi-ra's long lay-off would be good on her performance. I'm afraid that she would lost some feels of match with 2 month lay-off. But definitely Mi-ra seemed to learn something from the defeat to Angie,... so she would change and add something good on her game, I believe.

I still believe Mi-ra has blown off her life time opportunity to face top player, Jelena. :sad: Mi-ra's game is just perfect against Jelena's I think.

Anyway,... I guess Mi-ra should go to India alone,.. considering Cho is not going there. :( If you are not very cautious, India can be a very dangerous place for a tourist and even for a young woman. I stayed ther several months before,.. so I'm somewhat worried about some cheaters at airport and hotels,... most Indians are good, though. Cho said she would go to US on Feb. 10,... so after Indian open Mi-ra should do training alone without staff, I guess... :sad:

Good luck in India, Mi-ra~~~
:bounce:

Originally posted by Steveg
I am surprised by Mi-Ra remark regarding match comments by her fans :confused: . Is it ironical or she can not analyse her own matches?


You just prooved that I didn't do good translation. :o :sad: ;) What Mi-ra wanted say is that Mi-ra is surprised by the fact that some posters in her fan site ( mainly myself ;) ) know much about what happened during her match even though her match is not broadcasted nor reported by any media in Korea. And it's a kind of her gratitude expression to her fan's interest on her and her matches. Like kind of unexpected gifts from her fans. :)
And I think Mi-ra knew what she had to do,.. but doing that in a match is more difficult than that.. Hopefully she can improve her diverse game plan during her training period.

And I expect Mi-ra would do some weight training during her session more,.. cause she want to be stronger and can last longer. But I don't want to see some muscle on her. :o

Happy lunar new year holiday to you, Steveg.
:D

Thanks Eric :) . And happy lunar new year to you to :D .

As for Mi-Ra, she needs to have muscles to play tennis :eek: . But don't worry, I don't think she is built in such a way that her muscles will be very appearant, no matter how hard she trains :) .

Thanks for the translation, Eric. :wavey:

I have mixed feelings regarding her plan to skip the US tourneys...

The good points: she'll be able to work on aspects of her game, fully recover from her injuries, train physically, & very little points to defend.

The bad points: as her ranking will be in the Top 130 for the 1st time, she has a great chance to even make the Top 100 in the next couple of months by playing the US tour. She has so much coming off in April/May/June, it would've been great if she could get as many easy points in February/March. Also she could have even made Roland Garros maindraw with a ranking in the Top 110, when the Commitments are made mid-April.

Here's what I hope she does: enter the US tourneys in March, & then decide late February to whether she's going to play them or not, instead of not entering any of them.

BTW, if she's planning to rest 1.5-2 months, she could very well play Hochiminh for match practice just before Fed Cup... ;)

She's going to have to do very well after she comes back, otherwise her ranking's going to plummet. I do hope this decision turns out for the best.

Good luck to Mi-Ra @ India & beyond. :wavey:

Good point regarding Hochiminh City, Luke ;) . Especially that she has points to defend here :) .

Mi-Ra lost today in doubles qualifyings in India :sad:

Mi-ra lost in singles,... 5-7,0-6. :sad:

Have a good rest and training~~
:)

That's too bad :sad: , but at least she'll have some good break now :) . She seems to have given the 2nd set away :confused: .

Poor Mi-Ra.... :sad:

I guess she'll go home now...

I hope she changes her mind from resting 1.5 - 2 months into just 1 month. :angel:

I remember Mi-Ra saying somewhere she started to play better last year after the $25K in Hochimin City :angel: .

I somehow have the feeling she may be waiting to resume playing as from there ;) , since it is her "lucky" tournament :D .

Yeah, Mi-ra said so,.... reaching final of Asian Championship and Hochimin challenger gave her a lot of confidence. :)
Hope she can win the title this year. :)

danker : I think 2 month lay off is a bit too long. Hope her rehab goes well,.. then she can come back in a month.

Go, Mi-ra~~
:bounce:

I just hope she can come and feel well here :angel: . Last time, she was always leaving the site in a rush :sad: .

I found an article about the Mi-ra's match.

++++++++++++++++++
Widjaja pushed at Indian Open
Tuesday, 4 February, 2003

HYDERABAD, India, Feb 3 AFP - Christina Torrens Valero of Spain was among the seeded players to win first round matches in the WTA Indian Open tennis tournament here today. The sixth-seeded Spaniard scored a 7-5, 6-0 win over Korean Mi-Ra Jeon.
She was joined in the second round by seventh seed Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia and eighth-seeded Silvija Talaja of Croatia.
Valero's match was not as easy as the scoreline suggested, the first set proving competitive.
Both players decided to play from the baseline early on as the opening set dragged on for close to an hour with the players trading breaks on a regular basis.
Valero later attributed her scratchy first set performance to the nerves of playing a first round match.
"It was not easy playing the first set but after I won it I relaxed a bit," she said.
"By then I also got used to playing under the lights and adjusted to the surface and my game automatically improved."
Even as the Spaniard got into her groove, her 141st-ranked opponent seemed a pale shadow of herself in the second set.
+++++++++

Go, Mi-ra~~~
:D

Thanks Eric. I still wonder what happened to Mi-Ra in the second set :confused: . The article hints she was not herself :sad: .

I hope she will have a good rest :D .

I agree Eric, 2 months is just way too long to take a break during the season... :sad:

Anyway, 6th February is Mi-Ra's birthday (and mine :o).

Happy 25th birthday to her! :bounce:

And happy birthday to you too, Luke ;) .

Happy birthday to Mi-ra and danker~~ :wavey:

I didn't know that. :o

Hope you have wonderful birthday, today, danker. :D

danker..Happy Birthday!!! Many happy returns...:cool: :wavey: Partying tonight?:)

Mi-Ra...Happy b-day 2U!!! Wishing u great tennis career!:D :wavey:

Hi, all~~~ :wavey:

Finally, Mi-ra left a message on her fan site~~~ :D

There are good news and bad ones.
Bad news is she extended her layoff from 6 week to 9 week for ensuring to be strong enough. :(
She said she had started physical(weight) training since Tuesday,.. and due to the hardwork her muscles are aching,.. so her walking looks funny now.
She's saying it's hard but now she's enjoying it.

She asked her fans to cheer for HT Lee and YJ Cho who are leading Korean Tennis,.. she said if they make some good result,.. there would be another boom for tennis in her country, so many players can train under better circumstances.

She said she would stay in Korea until mid of April.
Oh, I almost forgot to notify good news. ;) The good news is she will visit her fan site more often,... and her home is having a broadband internet connection now. :D

Go, Mi-ra~~~
:bounce:

Thanks for the news Eric.

Mid-April : is it for the ITF in Hochiminh City :confused: :D ?

Mi-Ra needs to do some stretching right after her physical training (when she is still warm). It is a MUST.

Hi, Steveg.

That's exactly what I wanted to say. Stretching! When I did work out at a gym,... I learned that how much important the stretching is. Mi-ra and Cho get cramp often,.. so I'm wondering their trainer is a competent one. ( or maybe they are working out by themselves without any guidance. :o )

And I'm not sure it's good for tennis player to do weight traing over 2 months without playing a match. I think the effect from the training would last only 3 or 4 months at most.... considering my case. :o ;) I'm not sure it's good idea having 9 week lay off only for physical training for being stronger.
I guess Mi-ra needs to have persistence not the strength. :confused:

Mi-ra didn't answer about the Hochimin City even though I asked 3 times. :sad: I guess she is not going to answer every questions from her fan cause some fans (mostly guys) can be naughty one in some ways,... . ;)
But I'll ask her again next time,... But I don't think she has decided her concrete schedule yet,.. cause it could be dependent on YJ Cho's schedule and her coach's idea.

Anyway,.... Go, Mi-ra~~
:D

I fear that Mi-Ra is doing work-outs with heavy weights, which is not suited for tennis.

And you are right : this ground-work build-up with last only some weeks, unless Mi-Ra keeps on training during her regular season too.

At least she is having fun, which is a good thing :) .

Thanks Eric for the news. :wavey:

Not happy with it though since she'll be off the tour for more than 2 months. :fiery:

I've calculated the date of her return. Since she'll be off for 9 weeks, she is to return on the Week of 14 April which is the week of... $25K Hochiminh. ;)

I'm sure we'll see her back that week because she's being very specific. She could have said 2 months, but she said 9 weeks. Unlikely she'll play outside Asia the week before Fed Cup.

I really do hope everything works out for the better. I'm going to miss "slender Mi-Ra" though. :sad: ;)

I'll do my best to be in Vietnam at that time (if she's there) and... take photos of Mi-Ra so that you can see the new "her" :D .

Last year, Mi-Ra earned slightly less than $40,000 on tour.

This year, after less than 2 months, she has already a bit more than $10,000.

That is quite smart of her to invest time in ground work given her financial situation now, even if 2 months off the tour is a long time.

I hope she is not only working on building-up her muscles but also on changing the way she hits the ball (practicing to hit the ball earlier) and her volleys.

Eric, did Mi-Ra mention anything about this in her messages :confused: .

Hi, all~~~ :wavey:

I've been waiting for Mi-ra's new message,.. but none so far. :(

While surfing internet to seek some info on her,... I found some good and bad news this time again. ;)

Good news first,... There seems to be another tow 25K challenger event in Korea. Tennis Korea Association just released their 2003 schedule,.. and there's three (or four) 25K challengers this year. :D
The last one could be an event for men,.... cause no mention about that.... I know there was men's challenger in Busan last year,... but it is placed right after the Se-ah 25K challenger,.. so maybe I want to believe it for women.. ;) I don't know anything about the men's challenger series,.. don't know whether they have 25K challenger format or not. :o Anyway, officially at least three 25K challenger events! I think it could be a very good chance for low ranked players in China, Japan, Australlia, Taiwan, Indonesia... and Korea. :D

Challenger schedule.
5.31-6.7 25K Se-Ah Challenger ( Olympic Park, Seoul)
7.19-26 25K In-cheon Challenger ( In-cheon municipal court)
7.27-8.3 25K Chang-won Challenger ( Chang-won complex court)
6.7-15 25K Busan Challenger ( Not sure about women's game ? )
+++++++
6.7-14 10K circuit , Seoul Olympic Park
6.15-22 10K circuit, In-cheon municipal court


Bad news is there's no schedule for a new WTA event in Korea this year which I mentioned before here. :mad: I have no idea how's it going now. :confused:

That's all for now.

Good day to you all~~~
:wavey:

Hi, Steveg~~ :wavey:

Actually we are posting a message at the same time. But as you may know, due to my poor English,... mine takes longer,... I started earlier, though. ;)

No, no mention about that kind of stuff in Mi-ra's message. I guess she has pride and ego,.. so she wouldn't write about every details,.. until she fixes them. I think this period can be very important for her career.
Yesterday, I read a magazine, 'Tennis Korea' to find some info on Mi-ra,... but happened to find some on YJ Cho. ;) Her coach, Kim (who is also Mi-ra's coach as well), said Cho has changed after an incident when she had a bad loss in the 1st round last year. At that time Cho said right after the match that "Don't talk to me anything now, I can't listen anything" then went to shower,... for the first time,... then cancel another schedules and back to Korea. Then she change her racket, gut,.. and her swing form. Kim said it could have sound somewhat rude to coach,... but that kind of mindset has changed Cho's game.
I want this kind of thing happens to Mi-ra. She rarely express her mind,.... and modest,... always so good to her coaches as far as I know. I think she should change something in this period.
Anyway,... she is alone now,... Cho left to US along with the sharing coach,.... so Mi-ra can't hit many balls,... but she can use this her own time.


As for the money,... she's not that hungry for that. Her goal is to achieve her goals not money,.... if it's not a BIG money. ;) Cause Cho and Mi-ra got paid every month no matter what they do. They are working under salary system. Sometimes I feel that's not good for them in the long run.

Have a good day~~~ :D

Thanks for the wonderful news, Eric. :wavey:

This is the 1st time 3 Challengers will be played in Korea on the women's calendar. :eek: This is great news for the players in the Asia/Pacific region as it follows the 2 $25K events in China. :)

I'm pretty sure the 4th one in Busan will be for the men only because there's going to be a $10K in Seoul that week for women. They wouldn't clash 2 tourneys in Korea for women...

I really hope they confirm the WTA event soon. :(

BTW, where is Changwon? I tried to find it on my Atlas, but to no avail. :sad:

:wavey:

Originally posted by danker
BTW, where is Changwon? I tried to find it on my Atlas, but to no avail. I would believe it is :

Ch’ang-won [Ch’angwon], Kyongsang-namdo, South Korea (http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=mrdt&ID=3XNsF.&C=35.230483,128.634865&L=WLD0409&CV=1&A=200&S=656,532&O=0,0&MS=0&P=|9a875c|&&BCheck=1,800,600,32&zz=1045587992328)

(the link will open a new page with a map and Ch’ang-won. If there's a page asking you to activate cookies and you have already done it, click OK).

As for a new WTA tourney in 2004, the organisers have until end of February to complete the application and pay the deposit. I hope we will hear about it soon in case such an application has been made ;) .

Thanks for the news Eric :wavey: . Yoon-Jeong does seem to have a strong temper; this is what makes her fight on court until the last point :) . But it must be hard indeed being her coach sometime :eek: .

I hope Mi-Ra has other hitting partners in Korea :) . Good luck to her :D .

Hi, danker :wavey:

Changwon is a kind of small-medum scale city in southern part of Korea. It's not far from Busan, 2nd largest city,... and kind of city of industry,... much like Detroit in US. Most people there are working for automobile, machinery factories. I heard that there are many amateur tennis clubs in that city. :)

Yes,.. I think it's good thing to have three 25K event in Korea,... and hope there will be many more challenger events next year,.. I think there are so many sponsors who can afford that kind of challenger events here. Then we can see some talented but not wealthy girls get some ranking points here and there... :D

Hi, Steveg.

I'm looking forward to seeing some news regarding the new WTA event. But I'm afraid the sponsor who was supposed to take part in the sponsorship for new WTA event would be more interested in Men's event... cause HT Lee is making some good news here. :( Anyway, we'll see.

I don't think Mi-ra would have some good hitting partners nowadays. Their team is tiny,.. 1 coach, 2 players.... so YJ Cho said on her fan site before when Mi-ra is abroad,... she is doing some weight training,.... maybe vice versa.
I heard that their team having training with a junior tennis academy, SMI which is owned by Mi-ra's team's head coach. Some sometimes with Hansol team,.. which has some players like KM Chang, JH Kim and So-jung Kim (for now).
All in all,.. I don't think Mi-ra is have a good environment for training now. :sad:

But you can do it, Mi-ra~~
Go~~~
:bounce:

Thanks for the help Stephane & Eric. :wavey:

Once I knew it's close to Mashan & Busan I got the idea. :wavey:

I really hope they don't scrap the idea of the WTA event in Seoul. I just hope the efforts of YJ Cho & Mi-Ra can boost its chances! :bounce:

Onto another subject, I've noticed that Kyung-Mi Chang had entered so many tourneys this year but withdrew from all of them. I just hope her left wrist has nothing to do with it. :sad:

There's been another message from Mi-Ra posted on Feb 19th :) :
ºñ³ª ´«µµ ¾È¿À¸é¼_ ³¯ÀÌ ÀÌ·¸°Ô Èå·Á¼_ ±âºÐ±îÁö ¾ÆÁÖ ²Ü²ÜÇØ¿ä..
¿äÁò ¿îµ¿¾çÀÌ ¸¹¾Æ¼_ Á¶±Ý ¹Ù»Û »ýÈ°À» Çߴµ¥¿ä ±âºÐÀº ÁÁ´õ¶ó±¸¿ä..
¹º°¡ º¯È_µÇ¾î °¡´Â Á¦ ¸ð½ÀÀ» º¸´Ï±î ±â´ëµµ µÇ±¸¿ä..
¾îÁ¨ ÷À¸·Î 2ÁÖ¸¸¿¡ ¶óÄÏÀ» Àâ¾Ò¾î¿ä...
ü·Â¿îµ¿ÀÌ ³¡³ª°í ¿ÀÈÄ´Ê°Ô 40ºÐÁ¤µµ Ãƴµ¥ ³Ê¹« Àç¹ÌÀÖ´õ¶ó±¸¿ä...
¿À·§¸¸¿¡ Àâ¾Æ¼_ Àß ÀâÈ÷Áø ¾Ê¾ÒÁö¸¸ ±âºÐÀº ÁÁ¾Ò¾î¿ä...
ÀڱⰡ Á¦ÀÏ ÀßÇÏ´Â°É ÇÒ¶§°¡ Á¦ÀÏ ÇູÇÑ°¡ºÁ¿ä..
ÀÌÁ¦ 2¿ùµµ ºü¸£°Ô Áö³ª°¡°í Àֳ׿ä...
°Ü¿ïµµ »¡¸® Áö³ª°¡°í ¾î¼_ µû¶æÇÑ º½ÀÌ ¿ÔÀ¸¸é ÁÁ°Ú¾î¿ä...
¾Æ!! ±×¸®±¸ ´ë±¸ ÁöÇÏö ¹æÈ_»ç°Ç¶§¹®¿¡ ¹«Áö ³î¶ú´Âµ¥¿ä..
ȸ¿ø´Ôµé Áß¿¡´Â ±×·± ¾öû³_ÀÏÀ» °ÞÀ¸½Å ºÐÀÌ ¾ø±â¸¦ ¹Ù¶ó´Âµ¥...
Ä£±¸µéµµ ´ë±¸¿¡ ¸¹ÀÌ »ì¾Æ¼_ °ÆÁ¤ÀÌ µÇ³×¿ä...
ÀÌ·¸°Ô ¸¾ÀÌ ¾î¼ö¼±ÇÏ°í ºÒ¾ÈÇؼ_ ¸¾ÆíÈ÷ »ì°Ú¾î¿ä...
¾ÈŸ±õ³×¿ä...
³¯¾¾°¡ ÀÌ·¡µµ ´Ùµé Èû³»¼_ ÇÏ·ç º¸³»½Ã±¸¿ä....
¹Ì¶ó ¶Ç µé¸¦²²¿ä...^^
¸ðµÎ È_ÀÌÆÃ..!!
There are a lot of "..." . I hope all is fine with Mi-Ra :confused: .

Eric, could you please enlighten us (your English is excellent ;) ) :) ?

I've noticed Mi-Ra regularly ends her sentences with "...". ;)

Originally posted by Eric_tennis
I'm looking forward to seeing some news regarding the new WTA event. But I'm afraid the sponsor who was supposed to take part in the sponsorship for new WTA event would be more interested in Men's event... cause HT Lee is making some good news here. :( Anyway, we'll see. It is shocking that there are not more news about Yoon-Jeong :( . She is having very good results too (and Mi-Ra will certainly follow soon ;) ).

Hi, Steveg :wavey:

HT Lee became kind of a celebrity in Korea... so many people know him.... and he's a title holder (both singles & doubles) so he can draw more attention than YJ Cho.

And I think Mi-ra has been more popular than any female tennis players,... cause she was a kind of prodgy when she was young,.. so many people think she has good potential,.. and she's prettier,.. than.... . ;) :angel:

Originally posted by danker
I've noticed Mi-Ra regularly ends her sentences with "...". ;)

Hi, danker :wavey:

Yes,... Mi-ra kind of uses too much "..." like me. ".... " kind of means "there's more to say ,.. stuff". Mi-ra doesn't write every details,.. but it shows she definitely to say more, I think. :)

Originally posted by Eric_tennis
Hi, Steveg :wavey:

HT Lee became kind of a celebrity in Korea... so many people know him.... and he's a title holder (both singles & doubles) so he can draw more attention than YJ Cho.

And I think Mi-ra has been more popular than any female tennis players,... cause she was a kind of prodgy when she was young,.. so many people think she has good potential,.. and she's prettier,.. than.... . ;) :angel: I think that the time for Yoon-Jeong to win a title is coming faster and faster. I am looking forward to it :) . For doubles, it will be tougher.

Other point about Yoon-Jeong : she has such a nice personality. She shines when you talk to her :D .

As for Mi-Ra, I am certain that good results will come soon :D .

Mi-ra's message on her fan site, 2003. Feb. 19

Title : It's cloudy...

It's not raining or snowing, just cloudy, so it makes me gloomy today.
Recently I've been busy due to heavy training, but I feel good...
As I see some changes in myself, I'm having some good expectation. Yesterday, I gripped tennis racket for the first time in 2 weeks. After physical training, I hit some balls about forty minutes,.. and found it so fun.
I couldn't hit that well due to the long lay off but I felt good.
I guess people can be happiest when they can do something best in themselves.
Now, February is passing by fast.... I hope that winter will pass fast and warm spring comes soon.
Ah!! I was very astonished at the news, fire in Daegu Subway. Hope that you all not suffered by that terrifying accident. I'm very worried about my friend who are living there. How can we live
without worry in this uneasiness,... It's quite lamentable situation.

I hope you all have some strength.
Mi-ra will visit here again.

Go,Go to all!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I saw the message yesterday,... so I had started translation after some hesitation. Then I had to go out for a biz. meeting,.. so I gave up. Then Today,.. I found Mi-ra's message here and found some encouragements from Steveg,. I'm flattered. :o ;)
Anyway,... if I read Mi-ra's message,.. it's cute and femine,.. so you can smile then,... but if you read my translation,. you would laugh,.. not smile. :sad: That's what makes me hesitate to translate her message.
Anyway,.. for the time being,... until if we can find better translater or I get better with some stuies,.... I guess I need to do so. ;)

I just visited YJ Cho's site,.. then found her message too. She wrote that early this morning (Korean time),... no mention about her matches but just some condolences to the victims from Daegu Subway fire. ( I'm soooo sad, too. :sad: )

Anyway, hope you enjoy Mi-ra's message.
:D

Thanks Eric :wavey: ,

I can't compare your message with the original one since I don't understand Korean at all ;) but I am certain you are transcribing Mi-Ra thoughts very well :) .

Good to hear that she is fine and having fun playing tennis. So she could find a hitting partner ;) ?

As for the subway fire, I saw some reports on TV, this is a terrible thing :sad: .

I was somewhat surpirsed that Mi-ra didn't hit a ball for 2 weeks. :eek: Hope that she gets some good hitting partner and some semi-match plays as well. ( Actually, I hope she gets decent coach more than anything, though )

A Grand Prix tournament is being held here. For whom interested in the result,.. I'm post some here.
This event is a top 12 player's competition for both men and women based on domestic ranking. So, for women, Young-Ja Choi is seeded 1st, and Jin-young Choi is seeded 2nd.

[Quaterfinal]
Young-ja Choi def Mi-ok Kim 6-2 4-6 6-2 :sad:
Eun-jung Lee def Sun-young Kim 6-2 6-3
Kyung-ee Chae def Hye-jung Chang 6-4 6-2
Jin-young Cho def Joo-hee Lee 6-1 7-5

[Semi-final]
Young-ja Choi def Eun-jung Lee 6-2 2-6 6-3
Jin-young Choi def Kyung-ee Chae 6-2 6-2

Final will be played today.. I don't know why they put the schedule on weekend for audiences. Maybe the officials want to enjoy weekend other than tennis stuff. ;)

Thanks for the results Eric :) .

Or maybe the players did not want to play over the week-end ;) .

I just had a few drinks with a Korean yesterday. Though he was not much into tennis, he knew Mi-Ra, but not Yoon-Jeong :eek: .

I just mention this as I am certain Eric will be pleased that Mi-Ra is apparently well-known ;) .

Originally posted by Eric_tennis
Hi, Steveg :wavey:
And I think Mi-ra has been more popular than any female tennis players,... cause she was a kind of prodgy when she was young,.. so many people think she has good potential,.. and she's prettier,.. than.... . ;) :angel:

Hi, Steveg :wavey:

I said so before,.. You just got to believe what I said to you. ;)

I remembered that Eric :wavey: .

It was just an illustration to confirm what you had mentioned ;) . Strange that I had this confirmation very shortly after you posted your message :) .

Grand Prix tournament Final result.

Jin-young Choi [2] bt Young-ja Choi[1] 2-6 6-4 6-2

Congratulations on her successive victory. Hope she can play more in challenger events abroad. :)

And I just found an article about YJ Cho's victory over Saori while surffing. Saori had been a kind of nemesis to Cho,... 4-0 career meeting before,... but Cho won last 2 matches,.. so 2-4 now.
Cho's coach said after the match that Cho has been improved so much, so she is a level above player than Saori now.
And Cho's head coach said that against Lisa, return game would be a decisive factor to win in the interview.
It just show that all the coaching staff are away from Mi-ra again. :(

Go, Mi-ra~~~

Thanks for the translations & results, Eric! :wavey:

You're doing a great job translating, don't be embarrassed. I just imagine it's Mi-Ra who directly wrote that in English. ;)

Another Jin-Young & Young-Ja final. :o
I'm happy for Jin-Young, but I wish she'd play more abroad. So frustrating. :(
BTW, I thought Young-Ja decided to retire after Asian Games? :confused:

Originally posted by danker
I just imagine it's Mi-Ra who directly wrote that in English. ;) I actually don't think Mi-Ra could have done as well ;) , even if her English has drastically improved in a year's time :) .

Originally posted by Steveg
I actually don't think Mi-Ra could have done as well ;) , even if her English has drastically improved in a year's time :) .

Ahem, I did say imagine didn't I? :confused: ;)

I could not imagine it's Mi-Ra because I know her English ;) . It's good now but not as good as Eric's :) .

I'm flattered. ;)

I usually tends to look at bright side only. :o ;)
I'm cosidering registering a English course after work,... 4 times a week. :eek:
If I do so,.. my night life would be devastated. :( ;)


Anyway,... I couldn't find any info on Mi-ra,.. but I found an article about Da-jung Hong,... wow,.. she won a 10K event! :D
I didn't know that. And the article says it's the first time for a junior player to win a pro event since Mi-ra Jeon. :eek: :D

Congratulations, to Da-jung. Her hard work has finally paid-off. She declared that she wouldn't play any junior event this year only to focus on pro circuit. I guess that was a good decision.

:D

Congrats to Da-Jung. :D
I'm very happy for her as she's had many disappointments the last couple of years. :)

Hello Eric, good luck with your English courses :wavey: .

4 times a week :eek: . It reminds me when I picked-up Vietnamese :) .

There is some new information about Mi-Ra, from Mi-Ra :D :
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¸çÄ¥Àü¿¡ Á¢ÃË»ç°í¸¦ ´çÇߴµ¥ ¾îÁ¨ Á¦°¡ ³»°í ¸»¾Ò¾î¿ä...
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±×·¸Áö¸¸ ÇÏ·çÇÏ·ç ü·ÂÀÌ ÁÁ¾ÆÁö´Â°É ´À³¥¼ö ÀÖ¾î¼_ »ÑµíÇϱ⵵ Çϱ¸¿ä.
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±×·³À̸¸.... It's so nice of Mi-Ra to take time and leave so many messages during her off-season :D .

Hi, all~ :wavey:

I tried translation again. Hope you enjoy... but some bad news this time. :sad:


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Title : I had my hair cut
posting time : 2003/02/25 20:41

It's been just 3 days since I had my hair cut,.. but now you guys all know it.
Nowadays I'm kind of out of my mind.... I was in a car accident several days ago, then I caused minor one yesterday. I don't know why these kind of things happen to me nowadays and I'm somewhat scared at driving. I hate to drive by myself nowadays but I have to drive to go to Sooji for training everyday,.. so it's quite stressful nowadays.
Fortunately I didn't get hurt much, so I went to the hospital for several days,..and it's fine now.
I was in a car accident for the first time, so I was nonplused by that,.. and was dissolved in tears like a fool.
I've never had my hair cut short in 9 years, but this time, I had my hair cut short impulsively. I don't feel bad cause some say it looks good.
Yesterday was chilly but today it's better weather. Do you all remember the rain several days ago, at that time it just poured like in monsoon season.
I'm having physical training over six hours a day, so I'm tired and exhaused. But I feel good and am proud of being stronger day by day.
I'm just hoping something good happen to me from now on.
I'm going to go to bed for sweet dreams and tomorrow's hard training.
Bye all, now....

Thanks for the news Eric :wavey: ,

sorry to hear that Mi-Ra had TWO car accidents in such a short time :sad: . She must be extremely disoriented and scared to drive now :sad: . Maybe her dad can give her a lift :confused: .

At least it must not be too serious since she resumed an extensive training program :) . I hope also that no one was injured :confused: .

I am looking forward to seeing her with her new haircut :) . I am certain it suits her well :) .

Hi, Steveg :wavey:

Her father lives his hometown,.. far from Seoul to give a lift. :(
Mi-ra lives in an apartment along with YJ Cho. So,... she would be very lonely in these tough situation.
She was a victim of the first accident,.. no further mention about that. She was shocked at the accident by physically and mentally as well. The second accident caused by her was a minor one. So no physical damage to anyone.

I'm somewhat worried about her training regime,... according to what she's saying, she's trainign at Sooji where athletes can work out,.. I don't think they have tennis court,.. so just physical training 6 hours a day, no ball hitting. :eek: I don't know it's good for her. :confused:
And she should be careful about the afteraffects of the car accident. If she had to go hospital for several days,.. it would be somewhat serious,.. and it can appear after several days or weeks.

Go, Mi-ra~~
:bounce:

I found a web page for Mi-ra's tennis team. The page is done in Korean but you can see Mi-ra's team's coaching staff and their players, both male & female.

Page Link : http://www.samsungfn.com/contents/misc/office_introduction/company_09.html


PS.