The 2023-2024 Korean Go League regular season has come to a perfect end, and the four strong teams that have achieved good results, Wonik, Ulsan, Price Information and Xiuli Shaancheon, are gearing up for the playoffs and doing their best to compete for the kingship.
This year, a total of 8 strong teams participated in the Korean Go League, and the regular season was held in the form of two double round-robins, with a total of 14 rounds of fierce competition. The top four teams made it to the playoffs and ushered in an even more exciting schedule. In particular, four key matchups in the final round of the regular season were staged at the same time on the night of April 4 to determine the final standings.
With Park Tinghuan's outstanding performance, the dark horse Yuanyi team won the first place in the regular season with a record of 10 wins and 4 losses, and went straight to the finals. Park Tinghuan won all the good results with an excellent performance of 9 wins and 3 losses. In the key battle of the final round, Park Tinghuan slashed Dang Yifei, and Koo Zihao defeated South Korean world champion Kang Dong-yun, making the Won Yik team win 4-0.
The Ulsan team followed by the Cheong-Kwan-Jang team, winning 4-0, and the Chinese foreign player Liao Yuanhyuk on the field made great contributions to the team with a proud record of winning all six games. Despite the heavy defeat to the Yuanyi team in the previous round, the price information team still moved up to the third place.
The final ticket to the playoffs was made in a fierce battle between the beautiful Shaanchuan team and the Lingyan team. After a hard battle, the Xiuli Shaanchuan team defeated An Chengjun with the victory of Ace vs. Han Youzhen, defeating the opponent 3-2 and successfully breaking through the thrilling level.
The results of the CheongKwanJang team were mixed, although in the heat battle, the team leader Bian Sang-il overtook Park Jeong-hwan to regain the second place, but when he fought fiercely with the Ulsan team's main player Shin Min-jun, Bian Sang-il made a mistake at a critical moment and accepted defeat after only holding on for 102 hands. Bian Sang-il tied for the top spot with Shin Minjun with a score of 12-7, but failed to challenge Shin Zhenzhen's four-game hegemony due to a slightly inferior score.
The tournament regular, Shin Jin-jung, was originally the undisputed tie for the first place, but unfortunately missed the playoffs due to the poor performance of his teammates. Despite this, he still gives his best with his dedication and maintains the highest level of concentration in every game. It is particularly worth mentioning that Shin Jin, who has been crowned the champion of the Korean Go League for three consecutive years, is admirable for his professionalism. In addition, although Bian Xiangyi won multiple win awards, he missed the peak showdown with Shin Zhenzhen in the playoffs, which made the public inevitably feel a little regretful.
This season's five Chinese foreign players have performed well, namely Liao Yuanhe's six wins, Yang Kaiwen's 4-3, Dang Yifei's 3-3, Xu Haohong's 2-2 and Gu Zihao's 2-1. Not only did they help their teams gain a foothold, but they also built up their reputation in the Korean Go community.
The Korean United playoffs will officially start on May 8, and the price information team will be the first to face the Xiuli Shaanchuan team, and the Xiuli Shaanchuan team must work hard to show their strength. We look forward to seeing more surprises from these unique teams in the upcoming events!