It was a shocking result. Korea had already lost to Vietnam on August 30 at the Asian Championships, coming back from 2-0 down to lose 2-3.

No player wanted to repeat the same memory, but no one could prevent this nightmarish reality.

Still, the worst was avoided.

South Korea defeated Nepal 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-11) in straight sets in their Group C match at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 at the Changchen Campus Gymnasium of Hangzhou Normal University, Zhejiang Province, China, on February 2.

With the win over Nepal and the loss to Vietnam, South Korea finished the group stage with a 1-1 record and advanced to the quarterfinal round.

The Vietnam match was not without its aftermath.

Against the unranked and underdog Nepal, the match was tight throughout the first set.

The Nepalese coach, Cesar Hernandez, looked at the Korean media waiting for him after work and said, “It was the best game Nepal has ever played in volleyball.” 카지노사이트

However, Korea overwhelmed Nepal in the second set and closed out the match with a shutout victory.

Kang So-hwi (GS Caltex) was the team’s top scorer for the second straight day with 23 points against Vietnam and 18 points against Nepal.

As a player who is responsible for finishing, he has a special heart.

“Encouragement? Encouragement…” he bit his lip when asked in a post-match interview how he and his teammates encouraged each other.

Rather, he believed they needed stimulation.

“Honestly, we have to do our part, and we didn’t do it, so I told them to be more alert and focused rather than encouraging them,” Kang So-hwi said.

He attributed the first-set loss to the aftermath of the Vietnam defeat.

“It was difficult in the first set because our mood was very low after yesterday’s loss, but I think it went well because we kept playing and focused on each other,” said Kang So-hwi.

“I think the players had some mental issues.

We lost yesterday, so…

I don’t know what they were thinking, but I don’t think we can play like this, I don’t think we can play like this, and I think we need to be a little bit more focused.”

“I think we all did stupid things.

We felt sorry for ourselves, and we blamed ourselves a lot because we lost when we shouldn’t have.”

Setter Kim Dain (Hyundai E&C) said, “I thought it would be a bit difficult in the first set because we lost the previous day’s match, but it was a bit difficult as expected.

I’m glad that we were able to finish steadily in the end.”

Kim admitted that it was difficult to shake off the effects of the upset.

“I think the players might have gotten nervous or lost a little bit of confidence,” Kim said. My sisters were talking a lot today, saying, ‘Let’s be confident, we can do it,’ and ‘Let’s believe in ourselves,’ so I tried to follow suit,” Kim said.

In the quarterfinal round, the team will face China and North Korea.

It’s not going to be easy.

“We lost one set to China at the VNL,” Kang So-hwi said. With that mindset, I think we need to come out stronger and try to win,” Kang said, vowing to play a game without giving up.