sports

A show of fresh development featured

The DPRK sportspeople fully demonstrated their spirit to boldly open up a new path and make a great leap forward in various sporting events this year.

The Pyongyang Sports Club gained in increasing popularity of both experts and fans and the public in volleyball, which is also very fashionable as a mass sport.

Women volleyball players of the club beat the April 25, a local power, 3-2 in the National Championships which continued until October through September and lifted the trophy.

“It is not by any chance or fortune that our team won the National Championships. It is a victory brought by the real ability marked by an amazing combination of all aspects,” said Kim Jong Ran, women’s volleyball head coach of the club.

Spectators who saw the volleyball match between the Pyongyang and the April 25 lavished praise on the novel, original and well-organized attack and defence of the former.

The Pyongyang showed off its high ability not only in the women’s volleyball but also in table tennis of the National Championships, winning the men’s team event and singles.

Experts are of the opinion that they expect much of the Pyongyang’s future competitions.

In swimming Kim Sol Song of the April 25 Sports Club attracted particular attention of experts and fans.

After breaking several national records last year, she renewed the national records in the 50m and 100m butterfly stroke and 100m freestyle swimming events respectively and set a new national record in the 4×100m mixed medley swim.

Choe Wi Song, artistic gymnast of the April 25 Sports Club,  performed high technical movements in the horizontal bar which can be seen only in the world top-notch competitions, winning gold medals in the men’s individual total and the horizontal bar of the apparatus finals and leaving deep impression on the audience.

Thrilling scenes beyond public expectations also unfolded in judo matches.

A typical example was Kim Won Gum of the Moranbong Sports Club who stole the limelight. She overpowered her opponent, a hopeful winner of the women’s judo 52kg event of the National Championships, to become a national champion. 

Players also demonstrated the development of each sport in acrobatics, diving, synchronized swimming and others.

New national records set

The DPRK sportspeople set new national records in many sports this year with burning enthusiasm for bringing the country into the ranks of advanced nations in sports as early as possible. 

In a local sports competition held in April national records were renewed in weightlifting, shooting, swimming and short-track speed skating.

Weightlifters bettered a total of 38 national records in the women’s 55kg, 64kg and 71kg categories and the men’s 61kg, 73kg, 81kg, 89kg, 102kg and over 109kg events.

New national records were also established in the 4×100m mixed medley swim, men’s 10m air pistol shooting team event, men’s 25m speed pistol shooting team event, men’s 10m air rifle individual shooting event, women’s 10m air rifle shooting team event and women’s 500m short-track speed skating.

In the tournament over 40 national records and nine national youth records were renewed.

In the youth-level competitions held in August three new national youth records were established in the athletics and shooting events respectively.

The sportspeople gave full play to their physical, technical and tactical ability they had built up in ordinary times in the National Championships, the top-level national sports competition of the year.

National records were bettered again in various weight categories of the men’s and women’s weightlifting events, with two national records being reset in track and field events, nine in shooting, one in archery and four in swimming.

In total, over 60 national records and some 40 national youth records were renewed in major local sports competitions this year.