‘Yu Jong Mi’ wins Supreme’s Afinyapong’s extraordinary swag “I gave birth by C-section six months ago and I’m playing”
Supreme Chonburi (Thailand), an invitational team in the Women’s KOVO Cup 2023, dropped their first two matches but showed what Thai volleyball is made of in their final match, beating IBK in straight sets.
Supreme Chonburi, led by head coach Nataphorn Srisamutnak, won 3-2 (25-23, 25-27, 25-14, 18-25, 15-8) in their final match of the tournament against IBK in Group B of the 2023 Gumi Dodram Cup Professional Volleyball Tournament at the Park Junghee Gymnasium in Gumi, Gyeongbuk on Wednesday.
Darin Pinsuwan scored a team-high 18 points to lead four starters in double figures, including Warinah Thrillaong (16), Malaka Kantong (13), and Plumjit Singkaw (11).안전놀이터
After back-to-back 0-3 losses to GS Caltex and Heungkuk Life, the Supreme brought in Malika Kantong, who had not played in the previous two games, to stabilize the receiving corps. Coach Natafon said, “In the first two games, we were too vulnerable to the Korean teams’ serves. So we put Kantong in, and she did a good job of receiving,” said Natafon.
Willavan Apinyapong, who played as Supreme’s starting libero, is an outside hitter by nature. With two of Supreme’s liberos called up to the national team, Apinapong played libero. Despite being out of position, she played solid defense at the back of the court.
“It’s an honor to be able to play in Korea,” said Apinyapong, who walked into the interview room as an honorary player. The Korean V-League has a strong Thai fan base. It was great to play against teams I’ve always watched.”
Apinyapong came to the tournament after giving birth to a child just six months ago. “Five months after giving birth, I came to Korea to practice and play for the past month. It was okay because libero is not as physically demanding as other positions,” he said. “I had a C-section, not a natural birth. We all know that it’s harder to recover from a C-section. That’s why I recovered well and came back,” he said, showing off his unique swagger.
What were his impressions of playing against V-League teams? “The players in the Korean team were evenly matched. In Thailand, there are a lot of differences in skill depending on age and experience. That’s because they’re all on the same team,” he said.
This year’s Korean summer has been a record-breaking heat wave. Apinyapong, who comes from a country with higher temperatures than South Korea, doesn’t find it too hot in South Korea at the moment: “The hotel is on top of a mountain, so it’s not too hot. It’s hotter in Thailand, so I didn’t have to get used to the weather.”
Now that the tournament is over, Apinyapong and the Supreme athletes are ready to start exploring Korea. “Usually, athletes take a break when there’s time left in the schedule, but this time, we’re going to take some time to explore the streets of Dongseong-ro in Daegu,” he said.
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