France defeats Korea in opening match of second leg of 2012 FIVB World League – Volleyball news
French men’s national volleyball team exhibited a stellar performance in the opening match of second leg of 2012 FIVB World League on Friday and held off Korea for 3-1 (21-25, 25-15, 31-29, 25-16) victory.
Lyon in France hosted the match, while Palais des Sports de Gerland set up the field of play for the thrilling encounter. More than 1,000 spectators watched the match, which continued for almost two hours. France moved to an overall record of 3-1 after victory,
while Korea remained without any win in the competition after four matches.
Two French players Antonin Rouzier and Earvin Ngapeth registered 17 points apiece and played a big role in their team’s success. Leading Korea was Park Chul-Woo with a total of 14 points.
France started off slow and could not get the right tone to overcome opponents in the first set. The opening stanza of the match continued for 28 minutes and finally Koreans emerged successful. They sent 25-21 on board and went on front with 1-0 lead in
the match.
After dropping the opening set, France hit back aggressively in the next frame. They covered their flaws and immensely improved. Good attack helped the team to take up lead, while the solid defence allowed them to restrict the rivals to a low score. As a
result, Korea could only score 15 points and dropped second set (15-25).
In the tie-breaker third set, both teams came up with quality of attacks. The audience saw an exchange of long rallies and score soared up with close intervals. After many ups and downs, home team secured the set, 31-29.
Koreans seemed visibly exhausted in fourth set, whereas the French hotshots enjoyed good rhythm. They posted 25-16 on board and settled for 3-1 victory in the match.
Philippe Blain, the head coach of French squad, praised the good work of his team. He said, “It's nice to win this match there to take a new start in World League FIVB 2012 second week-end. Our goal is to take at least 6 points this weekend. We had to beat
the Koreans because it is a tough team. They made a good start into the match.”
On the other hand, Korean mentor Park Ki-won regretted the loss of opening match in second leg of the tournament.
He stated, “We were unlucky in the third set when France puts many services, we lose the third set and loose there. We have very Young players and I hope that tomorrow it will be a better day.”
Next up, France is scheduled to take on archrival Italy on Saturday. Team Italia defeated France in first week of the tournament, while playing at home. Nonetheless, France will have a great chance to take revenge of the previous defeat. Likewise, Korea
will take on USA in the next match.
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