Korean Air, who is participating in the 2023 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship as a representative of Korea, lost the 5th and 6th place matches and fell to the 7th and 8th place matches.
Korean Air, who belonged to Group E and took 3rd place in the quarter-final group stage, played Kuwait Sporting Club (Kuwait), who placed 4th in Group F, in a match for the 5th and 6th places of the tournament held at Isa Sports City Stadium in Manama, Bahrain on the 20th (local time). and lost 1-3 (26-28, 25-21, 32-34, 23-25). With the defeat, Korean Air will play a match for 7th and 8th place on the 21st with the losing team in the face-to-face confrontation between Group E 4th place Bayanhongor (Mongolia) and Group F 3rd place South Gas Sports Club (Iraq).
Korean Air coach Tommy Tilikhainen launched a lineup that he has never seen before in this tournament. The second-year setter Jeong Jin-hyeok, who played full-time in the first start of this tournament in the game against Bayanghongor the previous day, was put forward on this day as well. For the Apposite Spiker, Lim Dong-hyeok, who had been resting the day before, was dispatched. Son Hyeon-jong, who had appeared as an apposite spiker the day before, and Lee Joon were sent to the outside heater team. The middle blocker also started Cho Jae-young for the first time in this tournament, and Kim Min-jae was his partner.
The first set was tight. Ahead of this tournament, the Kuwait Sporting Club, which recruited Saber Kazemi, a former apogee striker for the Iranian national team, on a short-term contract, confronted Korean Air with a simple offensive strategy centered on Kazemi. Korean Air’s attack by Lim Dong-hyuk, who started again as the main player, caught fire, but it was difficult to solve the first set because of the frequent mistakes.
In particular, it seemed to collapse when organizational power such as defense or connection was needed. In the 22-21 1-point lead situation, the opponent’s attack was not in sync, so Eun-ryeol Oh could not properly catch the ball that was just handed over. In the end, it went to deuce, and in 26-26 Oh Eun-ryeol was unable to clear the ball from the back of the court and allowed a score. In the end, in the situation that followed, Lim Dong-hyuk’s offense came out and he gave up the first set.
Korean Air took a 7-4 lead at the beginning of the second set, but allowed Kazemi three consecutive serve aces, and the match went into a close match again. In 19-19, Son Hyeon-jong’s time difference and Lim Dong-hyuk’s avant-garde open attack broke out one after another, and Korean Air, who seized the victory, took the second set with Son Hyeon-jong’s decisive serve score and Kazemi’s offense in 23-21, returning the game to the starting point.
The 3rd set determined the direction of the game that day. Korean Air lost again after a close game of deuce. Korean Air, trailing 9-14 until the middle of the set, gained 4 points in a row thanks to Lim Dong-hyuk’s continuous attacks and Son Hyeon-jong’s blocking, and pursued it to 13-14. With Kazemi at the forefront, Kuwait again fell behind by 16-21 and lost, but thanks to the opponent’s mistake, they caught up to 22-24. Kazemi’s attack was a blocker touchout, but manager Tillikainen caught Kazemi’s net touch and requested a video review, and as a result of the readout, Kazemi was shown to have touched the net and dramatically entered the deuce.
The 3rd set deuce unfolded as a face-to-face confrontation between Lim Dong-hyuk, Kazemi, and Apposite Spiker. It was Kazemi who was ahead of her decision power. The Kuwait Sporting Club, who cleared away Lim Dong-hyuk’s attacks after repeated one-step battles, immediately put the ball up to Kazemi to regain the lead, and in the ensuing defense, Lim Dong-hyuk’s attacks were blocked and the Gearco set was won.
In the 4th set, Korean Air consistently led by 2-3 points, and seemed to lead the match to the 5th set. However, Kazemi had no intention of taking this match to the 5th set. Kazemi’s serve with Korean Air leading 23-22. Korean Air seemed likely to win the 4th set if this rotation was overcome, but Kazemi’s two serves hit the Korean Air court in quick succession. The situation quickly turned into a match point for the Kuwait Sporting Club. Kazemi hit another strong serve, and Korean Air’s receivers couldn’t properly catch his serve as the water rose, so they couldn’t even attempt an attack and just passed it. In a situation where Kazemi’s back attack was expected, the Kuwait Sporting Club finished the game with an unexpected quick attack.토스카지노
Korean Air’s main gun Lim Dong-hyeok attempted 57 attacks, nearly half of the team’s 122 attacks, with a 54% success rate, scoring 34 points including 1 block and 2 serve points, doing his part. Lee Jun (14 points, 2 blocking) and Son Hyeon-jong (12 points, 1 blocking, 1 sub scoring) also showed decent performance, but 36 errors were fatal.
Kazemi, who single-handedly drove Korean Air to defeat, recorded a 52% attack success rate despite being responsible for 53% of the team’s attacks. Blocking recorded 3, and the sub ace recorded a whopping 7, devastating Korean Air receivers. It was a game that showed how one ace can dominate the game.