'After Defeat in South Africa, Lee Kang-in Raises His Head! 15 Consecutive Weeks at No. 1 in Star Ranking... No. 2 is Top KBO Batter Kim Do-young'

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Kang-in (25, Paris Saint-Germain) has reclaimed the top spot in the Star Ranking for 15 consecutive weeks, leaving behind the disappointment of the loss in the South Africa match.

Lee Kang-in secured first place with 15,671 votes in the 52nd Star Sports Male Star Ranking poll, which was tallied from 3:01 p.m. on the 18th to 3:00 p.m. on the 25th.

Lee Kang-in, who first took the top spot in the 38th poll, has maintained his position in this category for an impressive 15 consecutive weeks. On this day, Lee Kang-in played the full 90 minutes in the final Group A match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against South Africa, but suffered a 0-1 defeat, swallowing his disappointment.

There were no changes in positions from second to fifth. Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers), regarded as one of the top batters in the Korean Professional Baseball League (KBO), took second place with 11,083 votes. 'Basketball Star' Heo Woong (33), who led Busan KCC to a championship in the 2025-2026 season, secured third place with 4,642 votes.

Following him, Son Heung-min (34, LAFC), the eternal 'captain' of the South Korean national football team, ranked fourth with 2,779 votes. Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants), who has been hitting home runs in Major League Baseball (MLB), took fifth place with 1,159 votes.

The Star Ranking is a system where fans directly vote for their favorite star via the StarNews website to determine the rankings. Selected stars receive various special benefits based on the voting results.

Recently, the Star Ranking significantly expanded its candidate pool, fueling a fierce battle among fans. Starting from the 49th poll, five new candidates were added: Oh Hyun-kyu (Besiktas), Cho Gue-sung (Midtjylland), and Lee Seung-woo (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) in football; Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha Eagles) and Koo Ja-wook (Samsung Lions) in baseball.

As a result, in addition to the existing candidates Lee Kang-in, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, Kim Min-jae, Yang Min-hyuk (all football); Kim Do-young, Yang Hyeon-jong, Ryu Hyun-jin, Kim Ha-seong, Lee Jung-hoo, Kim Hye-seong (all baseball); Heo Woong and Heo Hoon (both basketball); Heo Su-bong (volleyball); and Woo Sang-hyuk (track and field), new candidates have been added, bringing the total to 20 stars competing fiercely.

Meanwhile, the 53rd Star Ranking Male Sports poll will run for one week, from 3:01 p.m. on the 25th to 3:00 p.m. on July 2.

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*This content was translated by AI.