Women's volleyball also a 'Hangzhou disaster'...shock upset loss to Vietnam raises fears of 'no medal' for first time in 17 years
South Korea's women's volleyball team, led by head coach Cesar Gonzalez, hung its head in shame after suffering a bitter upset in its first match at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Unable to break out of their recent slump, they now have to worry about their first medal in 17 years.
South Korea, ranked 40th in the world, went down 2-3 (25-16 25-22 22-25 22-25 11-15) to 39th-ranked Vietnam in the first match of Group C of the women's volleyball competition at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games at Hangzhou Normal University Cangqian Gymnasium on Monday (June 1).
Despite a 23-point performance from main hitter Kang So-hwi, the entire squad fell victim to the Vietnamese upset drama as they made one unforced error after another and were unable to cope with Vietnam's various attacking schemes.
Korea got off to a bad start on the day. They were caught off guard by Vietnam's offense early in the first set as their reception was shaky. They fell behind 1-4 and handed the early lead to Vietnam.
Korea quickly stabilized, however. At 2-5, Lee Da-hyun's center kill was followed by a point from Kang So-hwi and a service ace from Park Jung-ah to tie the score at 5-5. At 6-6, Jung Ho-young turned the game around when she blocked an attack from Vietnam's captain and longest player at 193 centimeters, Tran Thi Thanh Thuy.
South Korea then gradually increased its lead to 13-13. Successful attacks by main hitter Kang So-hui and frequent errors by Vietnam turned the tide in their favor. At 18-14, Jung Ho-young and Chung added back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 21-15. At 24-16, a Thai error earned them set point and they took the first set, 25-16.
Korea came out strong in the second set. Trailing 13-15 midway through the second set, Lee Da-hyun's back-to-back kills and the blocking of Kim Da-in and Kang So-hwi helped the Koreans pull back to 17-16.
Korea then capitalized on a Vietnamese attack error at 19-19, an open success by Kang So-hwi and a kill by Lee Sun-woo to take a 22-20 lead. Down 23-22, Lee saved a set point when he blocked an attack from Vietnam's Tran Tu Linh. Captain Park Jung-ah immediately followed with a successful attack to make it 25-22 and take a 2-0 lead in the set.
Vietnam would not go down without a fight. Led by outside hitter Tran Thi Thanh Thuy and middle blocker Tran Thi Bich Thuy, the Vietnamese fought back with an attack that evenly utilized the center and sides.
With the score tied at 19-19 in the middle of the third set, Korea gave up back-to-back points to Vietnam's TRAN Tu Linh and then had a blocked attack by Park Jung Ah to fall behind 19-22. At 21-23, an attack error by Kang So-hwi made it 21-24, and the match went to a fourth set with Vietnam taking the third set.
Vietnam continued to harass Korea in the fourth set. The Koreans struggled to accumulate points in the middle of the fourth set as they struggled with Vietnam's defense, leading 12-8. Reading Korea's attacking patterns, Vietnam minimized their errors and slowly closed the gap. The Koreans were in danger of going to a fifth set as they were down 15-18 after a series of unforced errors.
Korea tied the score at 18-18 after a Vietnamese service error, but fell behind again at 18-21 after a series of open attacks by captain Park Jung-ah. The match was then decided in the fifth set as Vietnam's offense faltered and they eventually lost the fourth set 22-25.
The fifth set was no easier for South Korea. They trailed 6-8 midway through the set and were increasingly worried about losing the match. It was Kang So-hwi who made the difference. After a successful attack by Kang, a Vietnamese attack error tied the score at 8-8, and at 8-9, another open success by Kang tied the score at 9-9.
At 9-10, Vietnam took the lead again, but this time captain Park Jung-ah stepped up. Park's back-to-back opening successes brought the score to 11-10.
However, Korea lost two consecutive points on defense and then Lee Sun-woo's open attack was blocked by Vietnam to make the score 11-13. The scenario went from bad to worse. They conceded the final point at 11-14 and ended their first match of the Hangzhou Asian Games in defeat.
For South Korea, the loss was devastating. The Korean women's volleyball team was looking to turn their fortunes around by defeating Vietnam, but they were unable to do so after failing to win any of their international tournaments in the lead-up to the Hangzhou Asian Games.
South Korea's women's volleyball team has struggled in the last two years after reaching the quarterfinals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. After the retirement of the golden generation, including "volleyball queen" Kim Yeon-kyung, Yang Hyo-jin and Kim Soo-ji, who led Korea's women's volleyball team through its heyday, the transition has not been smooth.
Then, in August, they suffered an embarrassing loss to Vietnam at the 2023 Asian Volleyball Championship in Thailand with a set score of 2-3 (25-22 25-19 23-25 17-25 13-15). At the time, South Korea was ranked 35th in the world, higher than Vietnam, which was ranked 47th. Despite being outclassed in terms of objective power, the game was a close affair and a heartbreaking defeat. 안전토토사이트
Korea then bounced back with a 3-2 (25-13 25-22 23-25 22-25 15-8) win over Chinese Taipei before sweeping Uzbekistan 3-0 (25-12 25-15 25-12) in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.
However, they fell short in the quarterfinals as they suffered a shutout loss in straight sets 0-3 (20-25 22-25 23-25) to Thailand, the hosts of the 2023 Asian Volleyball Championship. In the fifth and sixth place match, the team also suffered a shutout loss to Kazakhstan and had to settle for a disappointing sixth place finish.
The quarterfinal exit came as a shock to the Korean women's volleyball team, as they had always made it to the semifinals or higher from the inaugural Asian Volleyball Championship in 1975 until 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The team prepared for the Hangzhou Asian Games with a heavy heart after accepting what can only be described as a disastrous result.
The team lost all seven of their matches at the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier in Poland before the Asian Games. The team hung their heads in shame as they surrendered victories to powerhouses like Italy, Poland, Germany, the United States, and Colombia, as well as Slovenia and Thailand.
With no signs of significant improvement, the Korean women's volleyball team's prospects at the Hangzhou Asian Games were not bright. The fact that our first opponent in the group stage was Vietnam, the same team that beat us in August, added to the anxiety.
In the second match of the group stage against Nepal on Aug. 2, the difference in strength was too great to allow Korea to advance to the quarterfinals. Nepal is a weak team that lost to Vietnam in straight sets 0-3 (4-25 16-25 13-25). However, with their current form, it's hard to see them winning the quarterfinals or semifinals.
Korean volleyball suffered its first Asian Games medal defeat in 61 years when the men's team lost to 73rd-ranked India in their first group match on 'quality' before falling to Pakistan in the quarterfinals. The women's team is also in very bad shape, to the point where they have to fear an early exit from the tournament.
Under Gonzalez, who succeeded Lavarini at the helm, South Korea tasted the bitter taste of defeat in international competition. The attack lacked a clear-cut solution to win the game, and the defense lacked stability in both height and reception. From their first appearance at the 1962 Asian Games in New Delhi to the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang, South Korea's women's volleyball team has only failed to win a medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. They have only won gold on two occasions, in Hiroshima 1994 and Incheon 2014, but have always been a force to be reckoned with on the Asian Games stage.
A total of 13 countries will compete in women's volleyball at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Groups A, B, and C are comprised of three nations and Group D is comprised of four nations. The first and second place finishers in each group will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will meet in the semifinals.