Shin Jin-seo (23), who has maintained the No. 1 spot in the Korean Baduk rankings for 40 consecutive months, is known as the No. 1 player in the world of Baduk.
His overall opponent record against Ke Jie (26), 9th Dan, who reigned as China’s top player for a long time, is 9 wins and 11 losses, but Shin Jin-seo overwhelms his performance after 2021 with 5 wins and 1 loss.
Currently, objective skills are evaluated as the best, but Shin Jin-seo has to jump over two hurdles in the second half of this year in order to ascend to the throne of the ‘World Baduk Emperor’ both in name and reality.
The first hurdle is the third round of the final at the 9th Ing’s World Professional Go Championship, which will be held in Shanghai, China from August 21 to 24.
Shin Jin-seo won the semi-final held online in January 2021, but the schedule was delayed for more than two years because the organizers insisted on a “face-to-face match” for the final.
Ing’s opponent in the finals is China’s Sheke (23), 9th Dan, who is the same age as her.
As for the opponent’s history, Shin Jin-seo won once in Li Min-bae in 2017, when both were in their teens.
However, Ingssibae, which is held once every four years and is called the ‘Go Olympics’, is a competition in which various variables are rampant.
Even in their heyday, when they were evaluated as the world’s strongest, Lee Se-dol, 9th dan, and Park Jeong-hwan, 9th dan, could not form a relationship with Ing.
Shin Jin-seo, who is well aware of these difficulties, emphasized after winning the Maxim Coffee Cup finals held on the 10th at Konjiam Resort in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, “I really want to win because Eunssi-bae reached the finals.”
This is because if he loses in this final, there is no guarantee that he will have another chance four years later.
Shin Jin-seo said for the final round, “I have to improve my skills, but recently I am focusing on strengthening my physical strength.”
Shin Jin-seo, who has recently won 19 consecutive wins, is recording 37 wins and 3 losses this year with a win rate of 92.5%.
There are so many matches, so physical fitness is essential.
After Ing’s Bae is over, he has to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
It is the first time in 13 years since the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games that Go has been included in the Asian Games. 메이저사이트
It is impossible to guarantee that baduk will be a participating sport again in the next Asian Games, so this Hangzhou tournament is an opportunity Shin Jin-seo cannot afford to miss.
Even with Ing Si-bae and the Asian Games, it can be the biggest goal in life, but Shin Jin-seo, the world’s strongest player, has no end to his title.
Shin Jin-seo said, “This year, I hope to win one or two (world) competitions following the Asian Games with Ing.”
Shin Jin-seo, who won the 30th title in domestic and international competitions by winning the Maxim Coffee Cup on the day, said, “I expect that my prime will continue until the number before my age changes.” It may be impossible, but I hope it will be around 80.”
In the Korean Go title rankings, Shin Jin-seo is tied for 6th with Kim In (30), 9th Dan, following Cho Hoon-hyun (160), Lee Chang-ho (140), Lee Se-dol (50), Park Jeong-hwan (34), and Seo Bong-soo (32).
Hoon-Hyun Cho and Chang-Ho Lee have a lot of titles in their careers, but at the time, once they won, they went to the finals the following year and only had to defend their titles.
Even if you win the tournament now, you have to climb the same ladder from the first round to the final next year.
Nevertheless, if Shin Jin-seo wins 80 titles in her career, it seems that she will dominate the world baduk world for a really long time.