The 12th Nongshim Cup, The one of the biggest contests for Korea, China, and Japan, has just started. Surprisingly Lee Sedol 9P became the first player of Korea as he wants. Lee Sedol and Wang Xi 9P of China have the first round of The 12th Nongshim Cup on Oct. 18.

Nongshim Cup is a ring contest where five representative players of Korea, China, and Japan participate to determine the winner of the country. Each player who wins continues to play opponents from the other two teams, alternating between them until there are no more opponents left. The champion prize is 200 million won (approx. 1,200,000 RMB), and each player is given 1 hour and 1 period of 60 seconds for over time.

Korea has won the Nongshim cup for nine times so far including last year. China and Japan has won the cup for once each.

The 12th Nongshim Cup is sponsored by managed Nongshim Co., Ltd., and managed by Korea Baduk Association.

¡Þ Representative players
Korea: Lee Sedol 9P, Lee Changho 9P, Choi Chulhan 9P, Mok Jinsuk 9P, Park Seunghwa 4P
China: Kong Jie 9P, Wang Xi 9P, Xie He 7P, Zhou Rui Yang 5P, Tuo Jia Xi 3P
Japan: Iyama Yuta 9P, Hane Naoki 9P, Takao Shinji 9P, Yuki Satoshi 9P, Sakai Hideyuki 8P

¡Þ The first matches Schedule
Round 1 : Oct. 18
Round 2 : Oct. 19
Round 3 : Oct. 20
Round 4 : Oct. 21

¡Þ 12th Nongshim Cup World Baduk Championship Schedule
First matches: Oct. 18 ~ Oct. 21, 2010 – Beijing, China
Second matches: Nov. 29 ~ Dec. 4, 2010 – Busan, Korea
Third matches: Jan. 18 ~ Jan. 21, 2011 – Shanghai, China



























  
     Representatives of Korea (left to right)
    : Park Seunghwa, Choi Chulhan, Mok Jinsuk, Lee Changho,  Lee Sedol

























  
    Representatives of China (left to right)
    : Tuo Jia Xi, Zhou Rui Yang, Kong Jie, Wang Xi, Xie He 


























     Representatives of Japan (left to right)
     : Iyama Yuta,  Sakai Hideyuki, Hane Naoki, Takao Shinji, Yuki Satoshi