Lee Kang-in's '35-week reign' remains unbroken! KIA's Kim Do-young surges by 2,951 votes in just one week... yet still trails Heo Woong by a mere 50 votes for third place

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Lee Kang-in (25, Atletico Madrid) continued his dominant streak. He has now held the top spot for 35 consecutive weeks. However, this week's star ranking drew attention to the fierce pursuit by professional baseball star Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers). Although his vote count surged by nearly 3,000 in a single week, he was edged out by just 50 votes by professional basketball star Heo Woong (33, Busan KCC), leaving him in third place.

In the Star Ranking Star Sports Men's 72nd poll, conducted over one week from 3:01 p.m. on the 5th to 3:00 p.m. on the 12th, Lee Kang-in secured the top spot with the highest number of votes, totaling 13,752.

Lee Kang-in first reached No. 1 in the 38th poll and has since maintained his position at the summit for an impressive 35 consecutive weeks, proving to be the most popular male sports star. Having received 13,853 votes in the previous 71st poll, Lee Kang-in once again demonstrated a solid fan base with over 13,000 votes this time as well.

He also delivered an impressive performance on the field. On the 9th (Korean time), Lee Kang-in started in the home game against Barcelona in Round 12 of the 2026-2027 Spanish La Liga at Riyadh Air Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain, contributing to his team's opening goal.

In the 10th minute of the first half, Lee Kang-in received the ball on the right flank and delivered a fantastic left-footed outfront pass to Julian Alvarez on the opposite side. Giuliano Simeone finished off Alvarez's cross to score the opening goal.

Although Atletico ultimately suffered a 1-2 comeback defeat and Lee Kang-in was substituted in the 15th minute of the second half, local media continued to praise his performance. The Atletico-focused outlet "Into the Calderon" gave Lee Kang-in a joint-highest team rating of 7 points, expressing regret over his early substitution.

The competition for second place was even more intense. Heo Woong secured 6,478 votes to hold onto the second-place spot, while Kim Do-young followed closely with 6,428 votes. The gap between the two players was a mere 50 votes.

In particular, Kim Do-young's upward momentum was sharp. After receiving 2,768 votes in the 70th poll, Kim Do-young increased his tally to 3,477 in the 71st, and this time secured a massive 6,428 votes. This represents an increase of 2,951 votes, or approximately 84.9%, from the previous poll. His vote count more than doubled, rising by over 2.3 times in just two weeks.

On the other hand, Heo Woong maintained his second-place position with 6,478 votes, following his 6,600 votes in the previous 71st poll. He has recorded over 6,000 votes for three consecutive weeks since the 70th poll (7,006 votes), demonstrating consistent popularity.

Heo Woong has also been making his presence felt on the court recently. As Busan KCC rebounded from a seven-game losing streak early in the season with a three-game winning streak, he played a crucial role as the team's go-to scorer. In an away game against Changwon LG on the 8th, he recorded a team-high 27 points along with 4 rebounds and 2 assists, leading his team to an 84-74 victory. It was his personal season-high scoring performance. His younger brother Heo Hoon (31, Busan KCC) also contributed with 12 points and 13 assists, as the brothers jointly led the team's turnaround.

Son Heung-min (34, LA FC) placed fourth with 2,319 votes. Son Heung-min, who had jumped to second place for the first time in 120 weeks by securing 11,235 votes in the 62nd poll, has recently continued to receive vote counts in the 2,000 range. Lee Jung-hoo (28, San Francisco Giants) took fifth place with 1,230 votes. Consequently, Lee Kang-in, Heo Woong, Kim Do-young, Son Heung-min, and Lee Jung-hoo maintained their top five positions, following the previous 71st poll.

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

Currently, 20 players are competing, including soccer stars such as Lee Kang-in, Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae (30, Bayern Munich), Hwang Hee-chan (30, Schalke), Oh Hyun-gyu (25, Besiktas), and Cho Kyu-sung (28, Midtjylland); baseball stars such as Kim Do-young, Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha Eagles), Yang Hyeon-jong (38, KIA), Koo Ja-wook (33, Samsung Lions), and Lee Jung-hoo; and basketball players Heo Woong, Heo Hoon, Heo Su-bong (28, Hyundai Capital), and Woo Sang-hyuk (30, Yongin City Hall).

The Star Ranking Men's Sports 73rd poll will be conducted from 3:01 p.m. on the 12th to 3:00 p.m. on the 19th.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original