V League doubles number of foreign players with new Asian draft

More foreign players are guaranteed to be in action in the 2023-24 V League season after the inaugural V League Asian Quarter draft was held Friday with seven new players joining the league.

A Korea Volleyball Association official draws the nomination order for the V League Asian Quarter draft at the Stanford Hotel Seoul in Mapo District, western Seoul on Friday. [YONHAP]

More foreign players are guaranteed to be in action in the 2023-24 V League season after the inaugural V League Asian Quarter draft — a new system through which teams can add an extra foreign player to their squad from selected Asian countries — was held Friday with seven new players joining the league.

V League rules stipulate that each team can only have one foreign player in their squad, but the Korea Volleyball Association adopted the Asian Quarter system last September to encourage teams to recruit prominent Asian players at more reasonable prices than Korean players.

A total of 23 players from six countries — eight from Thailand, six from the Philippines, three from Japan, three from Indonesia, two from Hong Kong and one from Taiwan — applied for the draft that took place at the Stanford Hotel Seoul in Mapo District, western Seoul.

The seven V League teams were selected randomly by an official to determine the order they would pick players.

The Hwaseong IBK Altos went first, picking Pornpun Guedpard of Thailand, making Guedpard the first ever foreign setter to play for a V League’s women team.

Pornpun Guedpard [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate were the second to pick and selected outside hitter Wipawee Srithong of Thailand.

Daejeon KGC recruited opposite hitter Megawati Pertiwi of Indonesia, with Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass signing opposite hitter Thanacha Sooksod of Thailand.

Last season’s last-place team Gwangju AI Peppers, who are looking to improve their squad, recruited Filipino-American Mar-jana Phillips, who can play as both opposite hitter and middle blocker.

GS Caltex Seoul KIXX signed opposite hitter Medi Yoku of Indonesia and last season’s league winners Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders selected Japanese outside hitter Reina Tokoku.

The new foreign players will play in the V League starting the 2023-24 season and will all earn $100,000 annually, which is about half as much as the starting salary of the existing foreign players.

Whether the inclusion of more foreign players will elevate the V League remains to be seen when the new season begins in October.

In the meantime, the Korean women’s national volleyball team will participate in the upcoming Volleyball Women’s Nations League (VNL) starting at the end of May, before heading to Hangzhou, China for the Asian Games in September.

The national squad will gather next month for training and face Turkey in the first game of the VNL in Turkey on June 1.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]