With her childhood idol Kim Yeon-kyung, 36. Tutku Bourge Yuzgunc (25, Turkiye), who has joined the women’s volleyball team of Heungkuk Life, has expressed her excitement about moving to Korea.
Heungkuk Life selected Tutku with the sixth pick in the women’s foreign player tryout draft in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Tutku, who plays for the Turkiye national team, is a 1.91-meter tall right-handed apo jit spiker. He has played in the German league with Turkkiye and is new to Asia.
He is a proven player in terms of experience. In the 2019-2020 season, she ranked 10th in points per set (4.28), behind the likes of Tiana Boskovic, Isabel Hak, Meriem Boz and Alesia Regulic. She moved to Fenerbahçe for the 2021-2022 season, but didn’t get a chance, and spent the last two years playing in the 토토사이트 순위 German league.
Seventh-ranked Hyundai E&C had re-signed Moma, so Bourge was effectively the last pick. “I was hopeful but not sure. I thought anything could happen, but I was surprised, I was so happy,” he smiles.
In fact, he was a bit shy on the first day of tryouts. He hadn’t gotten much of a chance to compete for the team recently. But on the second and third days, he performed better and eventually got selected. “My agent told me that if I put my best foot forward, it would work out, but I wasn’t sure, and they were right,” Tutku said.
He was even happier to go to South Korea because he would be playing with Kim Yeon-kyung. Although they never played together, Tutku is the junior of Kim, who played for Fenerbahçe for six years until 2017. “It’s exciting and a dream to play with a player who has been my idol since I was a kid,” Tutku said. I’ve seen her play when she was playing for Fenerbahçe. I can’t explain how I feel. I don’t think I will be able to speak well when I meet her in person.”
Heungkuk Life, which needed Apojit, did not have a top pick. They prioritized Barbara Javic (Pepper Savings Bank), the No. 1 overall pick, or Vanya Vukiric, who was nominated by the chairman. But with the early pick, and after much deliberation, Heungkuk Life coach Marcello Abondanza chose Tutku.
“I knew him well,” says Abondanza. He played for Fenerbahce as a second outside hitter and lived abroad. I know his personality and I think he will be a great addition to the team.” “I met the coach before when we played against each other in the Turkkiye League. We didn’t talk much before the tryout, just greeted each other in Turkic languages,” he said.
Heungkuk Life is expected to make some big changes this season. The team will be without Lee Ju-ah and Kim Hae-ran. The team has announced a new starting lineup with the exception of Kim Yeon-kyung and Kim Soo-ji. Asian middle blocker Huang Ruirei (China – 1.96 meters, 96 centimeters) has been added and Tutku has joined the team. Kim Yeon-kyung (1.92 meters) is the third player in the 190s.
Coach Abondanza plans to use long setter Park Hye-jin (1.77 meters) as a starter. All the players are tall except for outside hitter Kim Da-eun (1.80 meters). The average height of the six players, excluding the libero, is 187.3 centimeters, which is higher than Pepper Savings Bank (185.5 centimeters) and Jung Kwan-jang (186.5 centimeters). However, the other teams have also grown taller, so Tutku’s performance will be crucial to help Kim Yeon-kyung. This is especially true for Heungkuk Sinsaeng, who have been runners-up for the past two years in a row and have lacked the presence of an outside player.
“I’m not used to talking about myself,” Tutku laughed when asked about her strengths, “I play thinking volleyball. I’m also confident in hitting over the block.”