The South Korean women’s volleyball team (ranked 40th in the world) has reached the quarterfinals of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games after defeating the underdog Nepal (unranked).
Led by head coach Cesar Gonzalez, South Korea defeated Nepal 3-0 (25-21 25-14 25-11) in straight sets in their Group C match at the Changchen Campus Gymnasium of Hangzhou Normal University in China on February 2. After a 2-3 loss to Vietnam the previous day, Korea improved to 1-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals as the second best team in the group behind Vietnam (2 wins).
In Pool E of the quarterfinals, South Korea, along with Vietnam, will compete with China and North Korea, who finished 1-2 in Pool A, for the semifinal berth, which is awarded to the top two teams in Pool E. However, South Korea is at a disadvantage with one loss, as their group performance will be counted.
Still reeling from the loss to Vietnam, Nepal continued to struggle. Their defense and offense were shaky, and they were down 16-18 in the first set. Korea managed to take the first set at 20-19 thanks to a diagonal attack by Lee Sun-woo (Jung Kwan-jang) and three consecutive service points by Kang So-hwi (GS Caltex).
In the second set, which was closely contested by 1-2 points, Korea took the lead at 11-10 with an open attack by Pyo Seung-ju (IBK) and a block by Lee Da-hyun (Hyundai E&C). From then on, the team maintained a steady flow without any major crises. Kang So-hwi finished with a team-high 19 points, while Pyo Seung-ju and Lee Sun-woo added 10 points each. 토토사이트
“It was not an easy match after the Vietnam War,” said Gonzalez, “Nepal came out strong in the first set and made it a bit difficult for us.” “In the beginning of the match, Park Jung-ah (Pepper Savings Bank) kept hitting targeted serves, so we switched to Pyo Seung-ju, and I think he did a good job.”
“The Korean power analyst did a good job analyzing the North Korean team’s power,” he said, “and we will prepare well to win.”
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