The Korean men’s volleyball team has reached the quarterfinals of the Asian Championship.
The South Korean men’s volleyball team, led by head coach Lim Do-heon, came from behind to defeat Indonesia 3-2 (25-16 19-25 22-25 25-19 16-14) in the quarterfinals of the Asian Championships at Al Ghadir Stadium in Urmia, Iran on Wednesday.
The 28th-ranked men’s national team, which had hoped to use the tournament as an opportunity to revitalize the Korean men’s volleyball program, was nearly swept aside by Indonesia, which is ranked 63rd in the world.
The Koreans, who topped Pool F after sweeping Bangladesh and Pakistan in earlier round-robin matches, beat the second-ranked Indonesians in Pool C to reach the quarterfinals.
South Korea will face the winner of the China-India match on Thursday at 9:45 p.m. ET for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The Koreans looked like they would have no trouble beating Indonesia, who are considered one of the lowest-ranked teams in the tournament, when they cruised to a 25-16 victory in the first set, led by a brilliant performance from Heo Soo-bong (Hyundai Capital).
However, in the second set, they lost the initiative as their reception faltered against Indonesia’s powerful serve.
Baffled by an unorthodox offense that alternated between short A and long C tosses, Korea lost the second set 19-25.
In the third set, Korea continued to battle back and forth, but back-to-back errors by Lim Dong-hyuk (Korean Air) and Na Kyung-bok (DOD) at the end of the set put them in danger of losing another set and being eliminated.
Korea recovered from the fourth set with the help of Jeong Ji-seok (Korean Air) and narrowly defeated Indonesia in the fifth set.
In the fifth set, Korea struggled with the Indonesian attack and was down to 13-14 and match point, but after an opponent’s error, Korea managed to turn the match around with a service ace by Jung Jeong-yong (Korean Air).
Then, Jeong Ji-seok neutralized Indonesia’s blocking with a strong spike to end the match. 파워볼