SEOUL – The Crown Hatai Laon team, featuring David Martinez, Jae-guen Kim, and Min-ju Baek, won the Korean Team League title early this week. Spanish player David Martinez, who turned 34 last week, received the Most Valuable Player award for the winning team during the ceremony. Direct's team, featuring Eddy Leppens and Dong Koong Kang, squandered their chances in the final weekend against High Resort, handing Direct the decisive loss by Burak Hashas. David Martinez has won his last seven matches for Laon and, along with Jae-guen Kim, the captain, Min-ju Baek, and Jung-suk Lim, was the most successful player. At the end of the competition, Crown Hatai led the fourth round team standings with 19 points, ahead of Direct with 18 and Woori Won Weebies (Zapata/Pheavy) with 16.
Crown Hatai could afford a loss in their final match against Legends, losing 3-4. Min-ju Baek defeated Shin-young Lee, a former winner of a Survival match in Korea beating the top players of the UMB, 9-6. David Martinez defeated Javier Palazón 15-12 and, with Jae Guen Kim, won 11-9 against Palazón and Sung-won Choi.
Crown Hatai won their penultimate matches against Hana Card 4-2, SY Builders 4-1, Harim 4-1, NH Nonghyup 4-3, and Woori Weebies 4-3. David Martinez bested Juan David Zapata 15-2, Hyun Min Seo 15-11, and Jung Ju Shin 15-4, among others. Min-ju Baek defeated PBA champion Ga-young Kim 9-6 in this string of victories.
David Martinez, who has won a total of eight PBA tournaments since joining the Korean Professional Federation in 2019. He won his second tournament for the Crown Hatai team, for which he has played in various lineups for six seasons. He said: "I received the Most Valuable Player award, but my captain, Jae-guen Kim, and Min-ju Baek also played a major role in the success. Both won ten matches. This victory was very special. I'm very proud of all my teammates after we didn't win a single match in the third round. This felt like revenge after those sad results. I hope we can continue this success."
David Martinez celebrated the success with his wife Ana, who is in Korea for the third consecutive tournament. Martinez will now play the upcoming tournament and then return to Spain for a short time.
The winning team with David Martinez, Jae-guen Kim, Byeong chan Not, Tae-jun Oh and in front the ladies Jung-suk Lim, Min-ju Baek and Natsumi Higashiuchi
The final standings in the fourth round in the team league:
- Crown Hatai Laon 19
- SK rent-a-car Direct 18
- Woori Won Weebies 16
- Hana Card Hanapay 15
- High Resort, Winners 13
- SY Builders 13
- Huons Legend 12
- Phoenix 11
- Harim Dragons 9
- NH Nonghyup 9
The individual standings are led by Dani Sánchez, followed by Seung-jin Lee, Eddy Leppens, Yusuke Mori, David Martinez, Young-won Kim, Murat Naci Coklu, Jae-ho Cho, Minh Cam Ma, and Sung-won Choi. Of the other Europeans, Semih Sayginer is at 13, Juan David Zapata at 14 and Lütfi Cenet at 15.