PSC working to keep noted Korean coach with PH squad

Korean coach Ryu Su-jeng is all smiles after the PSA Forum.

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will do everything it can to cover a two-year contract that will keep Korean archery coach Ryu Su-jeng with the national team.

PSC Chairman Patrick Gregorio said the opportunity to have a world-class coach with tangible Olympic credentials is too good to pass up on and he is helping the World Archery Philippines (WAP) secure a sponsor to help defray the cost of Ryu’s two-year contract.

“That she chose us is too good to be true,” Gregorio told the Inquirer on Thursday. “This is an opportunity that’s too precious, too good to let go.”

WAP president Bing Reaport revealed last Tuesday that Ryu, whose wards have won a total of five gold medals in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, is being sought by the archery federations of Mexico and China, but she chose to try to work a deal with the Philippines.

Several countries are also trying to reel in Ryu.

Reaport also said he has been working with Gregorio to forge a deal with private sponsors to help fund Ryu’s stint here. While Gregorio has said the PSC will fund foreign coaches who can also train local mentors, the government’s sports funding arm has limitations on how much it can pay coaches.

Ryu is famous for coaching Korean star An San to three golds in the Tokyo Olympics but what’s important for the Philippine national team is her ability to find untapped potential and turn that into medal winners.

The 57-year-old coach did that with Jang Hye-jin, who was relatively unknown in Korea’s rich archery scene until Ryu took her under her wing. Jang won two Olympic golds in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“It would be such a waste if we don’t take advantage of her interest in Philippine archery and get her to coach here,” Gregorio said.