Korea Basketball Association has decided to expand its pool for the Quezon City window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers to 16 players after seven players tested positive for COVID-19.
Out of the pool are Moon Seonggon, Lee Seonghyun, Heo Hoon, Lee Woosuk, Kim Jongkyu, and Ricardo Ratliffe after contracting the virus. Choi Junyong, meanwhile, suffered a sprained ankle last weekend.
Remaining in the pool are Kim Sunhyung of Seoul, Lee Daesung of Goyang, Heo Ung of Wonju, Yang Hongseok of Busan, Jeon Seonghyen of Anyang, Lee Woosuk of Ulsan, and Yeo JunSeok of Korea University.
The KBA tapped Doo Kyungmin of Daegu, Byeon Junhyeong of Anyang, Lee Jaedo of Changwon, Lee Junghyun of Jeonju, An Youngjun of Seoul, Lee Kwanhee of Seoul, Lee Seunghyun of Goyang, Kang Sangjae of Wonju, and Jang Jaeseok of Ulsan in the expanded pool.
Six-foot-six Lee Seunghyun, 6-foot-8 Kang Sangjae, and 6-foot-9 Jang Jaeseok will have the tough task of replacing Ratliffe and Kim Jongkyu.
Lee Kwanhee, meanwhile, played for Phoenix in the 2016 PBA Governors’ Cup.
Photo by PBA Images
Korea will enter the Goyang bubble tomorrow. The team leaves for the Philippines on the 22nd.
The cagers from the Far East are set to collide with the hosts twice, first on February 24 and then on the 28th.
They also face the Tall Blacks on the 25th, followed by a meeting with Indians on the 27th. They will play four games in five days.
