Humiliation was the end result.
With the loss of the golden generation, including “volleyball queen” Kim Yeon-kyung (35, Heungkuk Life), Korean women’s volleyball has been in a wingless plummet.
It’s gotten to the point where they can’t even hold their heads up on the Asian stage, let alone the world stage.
The Korean women’s volleyball team, led by head coach Cesar Hernandez, lost to China (No. 6) in straight sets 0-3 (12-25 21-25 16-25) on Thursday afternoon at the Hangzhou Normal University Changchen Campus Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, in the first match of the women’s volleyball quarterfinal round, Group E, at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.
South Korea, ranked 40th in the FIVB world, knew it would be a tough match against China, ranked sixth in the world, but they didn’t expect to be swept without a single set.
After bowing completely to the hosts’ “Great Wall of China,” Korea returned home empty-handed, having not won a medal in 17 years since the 2006 Doha Games (fifth place).
The fall from grace at the Asian Games was predictable.
Drawn in Group C with lower-ranked Vietnam and Nepal, the team suffered a shock loss to Vietnam in the first round of the preliminary rounds, and struggled against Nepal in the early stages of the tournament, winning just one game to reach the quarterfinals.
Coming into the quarterfinals with one loss and being drawn in Group E with China, Vietnam, and North Korea, they knew they had a tough road ahead of them.
In the end, they were unable to overpower China, which was the watershed moment of the day. Kang So-hwi (GS Caltex) and Park Jung-ah (Pepper Savings Bank) led the way with nine and six points, respectively, but were unable to overcome their opponents’ height disadvantage.
In the blocking department, China had seven while Korea had just two.
With their second loss, South Korea failed to qualify for the semifinals regardless of the outcome of their match against North Korea tomorrow (May 5). China and Vietnam advanced to the quarterfinals with two wins each.
The upset loss to Vietnam in the preliminary round was painful.
South Korean women’s volleyball is going through a 토토 rough patch. They lost seven straight matches in the Paris Olympic Qualifiers just prior to the Asian Games, and had previously suffered a 12-match losing streak in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL).
At the Asian Championships, they finished sixth, their worst-ever ranking.
