Japan beats Korea 3-0: FIVB Volleyball Women´s Junior World Championship
The first match of Pool G in the FIVB Volleyball Women´s Junior World Championship was played between Japan and Korea on Wednesday, July 27. Japan overcame Korea by an impressive 3-0 win at Eduardo Dibos Gymnasium situated in Lima, Peru.
The 66 minute long match started with the first set in which the Koreans tried to fend the Japanese off. However, the fighting spirit of the Koreans cooled down in the second set. The third set of the match saw the Japanese completely smother the Koreans
and seal the deal on the match with the following final set scores: 25-20, 25-13 and 24-7.
The Korean coach, Gi-Ju Park, spoke at the post-match press conference and stated: “Last year, we could beat Japan, but that was because we had two good players that are not on the team now. However, I am happy with the effort of each player.”
On the other hand, the Japanese coach, Yasuhiro Fukuda, expressed himself by making the following comments: “Last year we had a bad match and we lost with Korea. Now we were more concentrated and we are proud for obtain the victory.”
The Japanese captain, Mari Horikawa, made the following comments after winning the match: “We won this game thanks to our good reception and block.”
Japan started the opening set of the match by taking the lead and sticking with it all the way to the second technical time out, with the Koreans lagging at 16-10. At one point in the set, the Japanese side was up by seven points. However, the Koreans managed
to restrict the score of the Japanese and close in the gap at 20-18. As the set drew near to its final stages, the Korean player, Yeon-Gyeong, committed a blocking error that shifted the momentum in favour of the Japanese side who won the set at 25-20.
The initial stages of the second set saw the Koreans show some competition and the Japanese were kept on their toes. However, mistakes on the Korean side in their blocking led the Japanese to take the lead at 8-6. As the set drew on, the Korean blocking
become all the more vulnerable and the Japanese were able to take control of the match. As a result, the second set of the match ended on Japanese terms at 25-13.
The Koreans did not start the third set of the game in an impressive fashion and fell to making errors. The Japanese found themselves with the lead at 8-2 and were able to extend the advantage to 16-4. After that point, it was only a matter of time before
the Japanese bagged the third and final set of the game at 25-9.
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