After reaching the quarterfinals at Tokyo 2020, South Korea’s women’s volleyball team will not even qualify for Paris 2024.
Led by head coach Cesar Hernández González, South Korea fell to the United States 1-3 (25-20 17-25 19-25 17-25) in the fourth match of the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Group C on Tuesday (June 20) in Łódź, Poland.
It was the fourth straight loss for South Korea, which also lost to Italy (0-3), Poland (1-3) and Germany (2-3). With one point, they remain in fifth place out of eight teams in Pool C.
This effectively ended South Korea’s chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics. Even if the team wins all three of its remaining matches by 3-0 or 3-1 to add nine points to its tally, it will not be able to finish in the top two in the group to qualify for the Olympics. First-place Italy (12 points) and second-place USA (12 points) already have 12 points.
A total of 12 teams will compete in the Paris Olympics. The top two teams in Pools A through C will punch their ticket to the Olympics. One of the six remaining spots will go to host France. The other five spots are determined by the FIVB world rankings. South Korea, ranked 36th in the world, has a zero chance of qualifying for the Olympics based on its ranking.
South Korea has competed in three consecutive Olympic Games – London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020. In London and Tokyo, South Korea reached the quarterfinals twice, much to the delight of its citizens.
However, after the Tokyo Olympics, Korean women’s volleyball plummeted as key players such as Kim Yeon-kyung announced their retirement from the national team and a lack of succession. They were swept in the VNL for the second year in a row and hung their heads in shame as they failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics. 메이저사이트
South Korea started off strong, taking the first set against the defending Olympic gold medalists. However, they were unable to match the USA’s height and power and dropped the second, third, and fourth sets in straight sets.
Kang So-hwi (GS Caltex) scored 13 points, while Pyo Seung-ju (IBK) and Jeong Ho-young (Jung Kwan-jang) contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively. Jung Ho-young, in particular, had four blocked shots. However, it wasn’t enough to stop the strong spike of US ace Thompson Jordan, who alone accounted for 26 points.
Korea was evenly matched in attacking points, 48-56, but was more than doubled in blocks, 5-11. They were also out-served 2-to-5.