Korean women’s volleyball suffered the humiliation of losing all four games in the first week of the 2023 International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Volleyball Nations League (VNL).
The women’s volleyball team, led by coach Cesar Hernandez Gonzalez, scored a set score of 0-3 (17-25 26-28 21-25) in the last match of the first week of the VNL against Thailand held at the Turkiye Antalya Sports Hall on the 4th (local time). lost. 메이저사이트
As a result, Korea ended the first week of the tournament by losing all four matches without winning even one set, let alone one win. The only two teams that did not win a set were Korea and Croatia. At least, Korea was ahead of Croatia in terms of points earned and lost, avoiding the last place.
Expected first win against Thailand, lack of back-and-
forth. Korea, which had been pushed behind in height and strength in previous matches against Turkiye, Canada, and the United States, expected its first win against Thailand, who had similar physical conditions, that day.
Korea played a close match rather than the last 3 games where they were overwhelmed by their opponents. In the first set, the national team captain Park Jung-ah’s attack revived and Korea chased it 16-17 until the middle of the set, but it fell helplessly at 17-25, pouring out mistakes in the match.
Reorganizing the front line, Korea reached the set point first with a score of 24-23 in the second set, and was on the verge of winning the first set of the tournament. However, after allowing a tie with a serve and a defensive mistake, Thailand’s blocking prevented it and lost 26-28.
After narrowly missing the 2nd set, Korea gained strength again in the 3rd set and faced tight 21-21. However, this time, the back heart was lacking. Moon Ji-yoon and Pyo Seung-joo gave away game points by committing offenses one after another.
Korea, driven to the edge of a cliff, tried another open attack with Moon Ji-yoon, but was blocked by Thailand’s blocking and eventually lost.
The sobering reality… the widening gap with China and Japan
In terms of opponents, Korea was far ahead with 31 wins and 15 losses, and Thailand was one step below. However, after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics ended and Kim Yeon-kyung, Kim Su-ji, and Yang Hyo-jin retired, the situation changed to the point that Korea lost all three matches.
As a result, Korea suffered a shutout loss with a set score of 0-3 in all four matches, and the first week of the tournament ended empty-handed. Even in last year’s tournament, Korea, which was the only participating country to lose all 12 matches, was eager to ‘recover its honor’, but the wall of reality was high.
Above all, it is unable to block the opponent’s high RBI attack and powerful serve. The serve receive is unstable, and there is no blocking. In the match against Thailand that day, the blocking score was greatly pushed back to 5-13.
Korea set a goal to raise the world ranking as much as possible in this tournament to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but suffered a loss in all four games and fell from 23rd to 25th.
Korea’s sluggish performance cannot be attributed solely to physical conditions. China defeated world No. 1 Brazil, Germany, and the Netherlands consecutively. Japan also defeated Dominican Republic, Croatia and Bulgaria. They overcame their inferiority in physical condition with solid organizational power and individual skills.
But it’s still too early to despair. It is noteworthy whether Korea, which will move to Brazil, where the second week of the tournament will be held from the 15th, and face Brazil, Japan, Croatia, and Germany in turn, will be able to enjoy the thrill of victory.