Rungrawee Kurasa: Her allegation that she was excessively punished by South Korean-born taekwondo coach, Choi Young-seok, has reportedly caused the popular coach to seriously consider resigning his position.
By Terry Fredrickson
Upset over allegations of excessive punishment, South Korean-born Choi Young-seok is reportedly considering whether or not to return as national taekwondo coach.
10:00 Thai PBS has just reported that Coach Choi will not be returning to Thailand with the taekwondo team today, adding to suspicions that he will soon resign his position. Meanwhile, support for the coach continues to pour in from former and current athletes and from sports fans. A facebook page giving moral support to the coach jumped from 3000 "likes" to over 20,000 in only a day.
Note: There are various ways of pronouncing "taekwondo" and I use the Oxford dictionary version (American pronunciation) which sounds like "tai kwan DOE"
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Taekwondo coach under fire, may quit
Yaowapha Buraphonchai
Thailand's national taekwondo team has had much success under its South Korean-born head coach, Choi Young-seok, winning Olympic, Asian Games and World Championship medals over the past decade.
Now we are finding out one of the reasons why. Choi is a tough disciplinarian and carelessness or failure to train properly are severely punished.
It is bit too much for national team member Rungrawee Kurasa who claims Coach Choi assaulted her after she lost a match at the Korea Open last Friday.
Rather than keep quiet like other team members, Rungrawee, 23, the bronze medalist from this year’s Asian championships in Uzbekistan, described the incident in a post on her Facebook page, saying her coach punched her once in the face and stomach.
She claimed the punishment was excessive and yesterday visited a hospital for a medical checkup.
According to a Thai Rath report, she said her parents would not tolerate such a practice, and she would “not get hurt for free”.
According to the same Thai Rath report, however, the head coach punished Rungrawee because she was not only late for her match but also forgot her equipment, forcing her competitor to wait.
Coach Choi, a fluent Thai speaker, is very well known to Thai sports fans, many of whom have voiced their support for him in the social media, countering calls for his resignation by other netizens.
The 2013 taekwondo world champion, Chanatip Sonkham, also wrote a message in support of the coach.
She said she has Mr Choi to thank for her Olympic bronze medal and other international accolades.
Olympic taekwondo bronze medallist Chanatip Sonkham (centre) flanked by coach Choi Young Seok (left) and Pimon Srivikorn (right) waves to people in Bangkok’s Phaya Thai district during an August 2012 parade . THITI WANNAMONTHA
“Taekwondo is a combative sport so injuries are normal. There is punishment during training for mistakes, that is true. I have been through all types of penalty. I used to cry and questioned why I was treated this way. But I have endured everything and I have eventually made it,” Chanatip wrote.
She said no one wants to be hurt, but the coach’s intention of wanting to see the athlete succeed must be considered too.
The Taekwondo Association of Thailand is investigating the allegation, and has invited Rungrawee and Choi to testify on Saturday.
That may not happen. Coach Choi is reported to be very upset over Rungrawee's accusation and South Korean fans and sports writers are urging him to quit as Thai coach and come home to help develop athletes there.
2004 Olympic bronze medallist Yaowapha Buraphonchai wrote on her Facebook page yesterday, asking whether Rungrawee will accept responsibility if he does leave.
Adapted from information in the Bangkok Post's Thai Pulse, Post Today and sports radio talk shows.
Vocabulary
accolade: praise or an award for an achievement that people admire - การได้รับเกียรติ, รางวัล
accusation: a statement that someone has done something wrong or illegal even though this has not been proved - ข้อกล่าวหา
allegation: an accusation; a statement that someone has done something wrong or illegal even though this has not been proved - ข้อกล่าวหา
assault: to attack someone violently - ทำร้ายร่างกาย
association: an official group of people who have joined together for a particular purpose - สมาคม
athlete: someone who is good at sports and takes part in sports competitions - นักกีฬา
bronze: a dark reddish-brown metal made by mixing copper and tin - ทองสัมฤทธ์, ทองแดง
claim: to say that something is true although it has not been proved and other people may not believe it - อ้าง
combative: ready to fight, argue with, or oppose someone - พร้อมสู้กลับ
competitor: a person, team or company that is competing against others - ผู้แข่งขัน, คู่แข่ง
consider: to give careful thought to something before making a decision - พิจารณา
counter: to reply to a criticism or statement that you disagree with - ตอบโต้
current: of the present time - ปัจจุบัน
decade: a period of ten years - ทศวรรษ
disciplinarian: a person who believes in using rules and punishments for controlling people - ผู้ยึดถือระเบียบวินัยอย่างเคร่งครัด
endure: to suffer something difficult or unpleasant in a patient way over a long period of time - อดทนเพื่อให้ผ่านเวลาหรือเหตุการณ์ที่เลวร้าย
equipment: the things that are needed for a particular purpose or activity - อุปกรณ์, เครื่องมือ
eventually: at the end of a period of time or at the end of a process - ในที่สุด
excessive: much greater than is usual; too much of something - มากเกินปริมาณที่พอดี
flank: to be at the side of someone or something - อยู่ด้านข้าง
fluent: able to speak, read or write a language, especially a foreign language, easily and well - คล่อง, พูดหรือเขียนได้อย่างคล่องแคล่ว
former: of or in an earlier time; before the present time or in the past - อดีต, แต่ก่อน
incident: something that happens, usually something bad - เหตุการณ์
injury: physical damage done to a person or a part of their body - อาการบาดเจ็บ
intention: a plan in your mind to do something - ความตั้งใจ เจตนา แผนการ
investigate: to try to find out the facts about something in order to learn the truth about it - ตรวจสอบหาความจริง
meanwhile: at the same time - ในเวลาเดียวกัน
moral support: giving someone encouragement - ให้กำลังใจ
netizen: a person who uses the Internet a lot - พลเมืองเครือข่ายคอมพิวเตอร์
normal: typical, usual or ordinary; what you would expect - ปกติ, ภาวะปกติ
pour in: to flow in or enter in large amounts - ไหลเข้า
practice: a way of doing something - การปฏิบัติ
punch: to hit someone/something hard with a fist (= closed hand) - ชก, ต่อย
punishment: an act or a way of punishing somebody - การลงโทษ
resign: to leave a job permanently - ลาออกจากตำแหน่ง
resignation: the act of leaving a job, position of power, etc., permanently - การลาออกจากตำแหน่ง
responsibility: deserving to be blamed for something that has happened - ความรับผิดชอบ
social media: the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc. - เครือข่ายสังคมออนไลน์
suspicion: a feeling that something bad is probably true or likely to happen - ความสงสัย
testify: to make a statement about something that you saw, know, or experienced, usually in a court of law or an official investigation - ให้การเป็นพยาน
tolerate: to accept something unpleasant without becoming impatient or angry - ทน ยอม
tough: demanding that particular rules be obeyed and ready to give out punishments to those who refuse - ที่ลงโทษร้ายแรง เข้มงวด
treat: to behave in a particular way towards somebody/something - ปฏิบัติ(ต่อ)
under fire: being criticised strongly - ถูกวิจารณ์, โดนว่า
upset: to cause to be very worried, angry or sad about something - ทำให้วิตกกังวล ทำให้หงุดหงิด
urge: to advise someone very strongly about what action or attitude they should take - ผลักดัน, กระตุ้น
voice: to express your feelings or opinions - ออกความคิด
