272 future leaders of Baduk from 9 countries and territories including Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Russia and Romania participated in the world's biggest Baduk championship dedicated to children, the 17th Hanwha Life World Children Baduk Championship held on July 27th at the Grand Ballroom of 63 Building.

At the opening ceremony held at 9:30am, honored guests such as Cha Nam-gyu, president of Hanwha Life, Shin Sang-chul, president of Korea Amateur Baduk Championship(KABA), Cho Hun-hyeon, member of national assembly and Lee Chang-ho 9P visited to celebrate the opening.

"For the last 17 years, I have witnessed many young Baduk players who have participated in the Hanwha Championship growing up to be the next generation of Korean Baduk and I'm proud of them." Cha continued, "This year, we have newly installed Girls' groups to broaden the field of Baduk for female players as well. We also established the ¡®champions' club' to strengthen the bond between past champions and to promote Baduk among the youth."

Celebrating its 17th edition, Hanwha Life World Children Baduk Championship is the largest tournament dedicated solely for children in the world. Over ten thousands children went through preliminary rounds from June 4th to July 9th in 24 areas nationwide, and the 272 children who made it to the championship competed fiercely in the main tournament.

Kang Hyun-jae(Beomgye Elementary, 6th grade) took the cup for the Best Group that was the center of focus for the championship. Kang is currently learning Baduk at Chungam Baduk Class after first being taught by his grandfather. Kang said, "I'm very glad to win such a big championship. The final round was the most hard, and I want to be a professional player in the future." For Kang, the winner of the Best Group, 10,000,000KRW of prize money was awarded.

Kim Eun-ji(11) resulted as the runner-up for the championship. Kim had been leading the game halfway into the game which resulted in buzzes saying she may be the first female champion, but let the opponent take the game in the later parts.

Along with the tournament, many side events were held for the players and their family members. A talk concert by Kim Hyun-chul, a comedian, digital caricature, lucky draw, signing event by professionals and simultaneous games by Lee Chang-ho 9P, Lee Min-jin 8P, Kim Hye-min 8P and Oh Yoo-jin 5P were held.

Held by Hanwha Life Insurance since 2001 for 17 consecutive years, the Hanwha Life World Children Championship holds a prominent position as the entrance to become a professional player. As the biggest tournament for children, the accumulative over 200,000 have participated so far and over 30 of them have become professional players.

Shin Jin-seo 8P(Champion from 10th edition) won the 2015 Let's Run Park Cup Open Tournament and is ranked 2nd in the domestic chart. Lee Dong-hun 8P(Champion from 9th edition) and Shin Min-jun 6P(Champion from 11th edition) respectively won the 21st GS Caltex Cup and the 4th Mezzion Open Cup for Rookies. Dang Yifei 9P, the champion of this year's LG Cup World Baduk Championship is also the champion of the 5th List