Soo Yeon Lee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Soo Yeon Lee
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| 이수연 | |
Lee in 2012
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| Born | May 22, 1984 Busan, South Korea
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| Nationality | South Korean |
| Occupation | Table tennis player, model, actress, coach |
| Modeling information | |
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
| Hair color | Black |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul |
이수연
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| Revised Romanization | I Suyeon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yi Suyŏn |
| IPA | [i.su.jʌn] |
Soo Yeon Lee (Korean: 이수연, born May 22, 1984) is a talented person from South Korea. She is known for many things, including being a model, an actress, a coach, and a former professional table tennis player.
Soo Yeon started playing table tennis when she was very young. She even trained with an Olympic gold medalist named Jung Hwa Hyun in South Korea. She quickly became very good, winning the Korean National Junior Championship six times, starting when she was just 12 years old! She has also appeared in ads for famous brands like Nike, Adidas, K-Swiss, Red Bull, and Target. She is also a special representative for SPiN, which is a chain of table tennis clubs and restaurants.
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Soo Yeon's Table Tennis Journey
Soo Yeon Lee was born in Busan, South Korea. She began playing table tennis at nine years old. Just six months later, she was already competing in tournaments! She won her first National Junior Championship when she was 12.
After this, Lee left home to train even more. She learned from world champion Lee Ailesa at the Korean National Training Center. Later, she trained with Olympic Gold Medalist Hyun Jung-hwa. Lee went on to win five more Korean National Junior championships. She also won three Korean national tournaments.
Playing for Her Country
Lee went to the Korea National Sport University. There, she was coached by Ahn Jae-hyung and joined the national team. In 2001, Lee was part of the South Korean team that won a silver medal. This was at the World University Championships in Beijing. While at the university, Lee studied sports psychology and physical education.
Adventures Abroad
In 2004, Lee decided to move to New Zealand to learn English. While she was there, she won the New Zealand Women’s Singles Championship. She was also named New Zealand Female Sportsperson of the Year! After five months, Lee returned to South Korea.
In 2007, Lee moved to the United States. Her sister was studying in Chicago, Illinois at the time. Lee then moved to Los Angeles, California. She enrolled at the UCLA. She won several tournaments in the United States. These included the US Open in 2007 and the Killerspin Invitational in 2009.
Modeling and Acting Career
Modeling agents in Los Angeles noticed Lee soon after she moved there in 2007. However, she started working as a professional model in 2009. That same year, her modeling career began to include her amazing table tennis skills.
In 2009, Lee went to the opening of Susan Sarandon's first table tennis club, SPiN, in New York City. She later appeared with Susan Sarandon on The Jay Leno Show. Since then, she has been a special representative for SPiN as it has grown to other places.
Besides modeling, Lee has also acted in TV shows and movies. She appeared in an episode of Entourage and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She also acted in the movie Cross Wars and other films.
Coaching Others
Lee is a certified coach for USA Table Tennis. This means she is qualified to teach table tennis. She coaches competitive players who want to get better. She has also coached many famous people! Some of the celebrities she has coached include Oliver Stone, Jamie Foxx, Susan Sarandon, Reggie Miller, John Stamos, and Kevin Dillon. She even coached John Stamos and Kevin Dillon for their roles in the Entourage TV series!
