'Boram Hallelujah Table Tennis Team' Coach Oh Gwangheon Appointed Head Coach of Women's National Table Tennis Team

Director Oh Gwangheon Selected... Expectations Rise for Women's Korean Table Tennis International Competitiveness

Ok Kwangheon, the coach of the Boram Hallelujah Table Tennis Team, will take charge of the women's national table tennis team starting February. / Photo by Boram Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Ok Kwang-heon, the coach of the 'Boram Hallelujah Table Tennis Team' led by Boram Sangjo (Chairman Choi Cheol-hong), a leading domestic funeral service group, will take charge of the women's national table tennis team starting February.

Ok Kwang-heon, newly appointed as the head coach of the women's national table tennis team, announced on the 18th that, as the full-time coach for the team events at the '2022 Hangzhou Asian Games' and the '2022 Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships,' he will focus more on strengthening the national team’s capabilities and plans to create new breakthroughs to enhance the international competitiveness of Korean table tennis through various attempts.

Coach Oh previously worked as a coach at the prestigious Seoul Girls' Commercial High School before moving to Japan in 1995 to build his coaching career. He gained attention by leading Shukutoku University to the top in Japan and served as the coach of the Japanese women's national team and the junior national team manager from 2009 to 2016, nurturing key starters of the Japanese women's team. He contributed to winning the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, runner-up at the World Championships the same year, and victory at the World Junior Championships.

Since 2016, he has been the head coach of the 'Boram Hallelujah Table Tennis Team,' achieving results such as winning the team event (two consecutive years) and individual singles at the '2018 Hiroshima International Table Tennis Tournament' in Japan, runner-up in the team event and winner in individual singles at the '2021 President’s Cup,' and runner-up in the men's team event at the '2022 75th Pixelscope National Men’s and Women’s Table Tennis Championships.' In January this year, his player Kim Dong-hyun was selected for the men's national table tennis team.

Coach Oh said, "When I joined Boram Hallelujah Table Tennis Team as the inaugural coach in 2016, I wanted to show that one can be an excellent coach even without being a star player." He added, "I am grateful to the team owner and Boram Sangjo Group for their wholehearted support, especially for carefully considering the players’ ability to train freely, which enabled me to take charge of the women's national table tennis team this time."

Choi Cheol-hong, owner of Boram Hallelujah and chairman of Boram Group, said, "I appreciate Coach Oh for leading our team, the only corporate sports team in the funeral service industry, to the top level, promoting domestic recreational table tennis and contributing to sports social responsibility." He added, "I sincerely hope that Korean table tennis will continue to create a new wave on the world stage by enhancing its international competitiveness."