Gangwon FC's teen sensation Yang Min-hyeok was named the best rookie in the top South Korean football league on Friday.
Yang, 18, topped the voting for the Young Player of the Year honor in the K League 1, holding off Hwang Jae-won of Daegu FC and Hong Yun-sang of Pohang Steelers. Yang collected 115 out of 116 votes from the media, 11 out of 12 votes from the league's head coaches, and 10 out of 12 votes from team captains. Those voting totals were converted to 92.16 voting points.
Players who are 23 years old or younger with less than three years of professional experience are eligible for this award, and they must also have played at least half of the season to be nominated.
Yang took the league by storm from the get-go. While still in high school, Yang signed a semi-pro contract with Gangwon and became the youngest player to score a goal in the K League 1 in March, just before his 18th birthday. He led all freshmen with 12 goals and six assists while playing in all 38 matches.
At the end of July, Tottenham Hotspur announced their signing of Yang to a deal that runs until 2030. Yang, the youngest South Korean player to sign for a Premier League side, will join Spurs in December.
Yang was named the Young Player of the Month a league-record five times.
Yang thanked his older teammates for taking him under their wings and making him feel part of the team right away.
"I remember thinking it was really difficult to keep up with them in my first training camp. And I felt awkward around the guys that I had only watched on TV," Yang said.
"But they all welcomed me with open arms and made me feel comfortable. I started feeling more confident and that helped me get acclimated to the pro competition."
Gangwon FC had plenty to celebrate Friday, as their head coach Yoon Jong-hwan was voted the Coach of the Year.
Yoon led Gangwon to the best record in club history, as they finished in a franchise-high second place with 64 points from 19 wins, seven draws and 12 losses.
Yoon earned 89 votes from the media, seven votes from his peers and seven more from captains. With 65.69 points, he was a comfortable winner over Ulsan HD FC head coach Kim Pan-gon, who finished with 17.33 points.
Yoon became just the fourth winner of the top coaching award not to come from the championship team.
Yoon's contract with Gangwon expired after the season and the coach said the two sides are in negotiations.
"I am sure no one expected us to finish in second place this season. I think we had a great season, and any coach in that situation would want to be recognized for that kind of performance," Yoon said. "It will be up to the team management to make that decision." (Yonhap)
