Kazakhstan finished the 2010 Asian Games Women’s Volleyball Championship in 5th place
Kazakhstan outplayed North Korea in the fifth place match on Saturday, 27th November, 2010. The Kazak ‘force’ crushed Korea by posting 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, and 25-22) victory. This is the first time that Kazakhstan has climbed up to 5th
place in the Asian Games. The Guangzhou Gymnasium hosted the match.
First set
Kazakhstan opened the match with powerful serves. The Kazak players had the advantage of their height and they had the ability to supply plenty of power to their serves. On the other hand, Korean side handled the ball with great command. The muscular spikers
of Korea added quick points and picked up a narrow lead in the early few minutes of the game. Korea attacked with Jong and stretched the gap of points. Kazakhstan’s defenders couldn’t cope with the power of fast spikes and gave way to a trio for Korea. Nonetheless,
Kazakhstan hit back angrily and attacked Korea’s defence line aggressively. Olga Dobryshevskaya was on fire as she never tired of smashing the point-scoring shots.
In the time of need, Natalya Zhukova gave helping hand to her team and attacked from back row. Korea promptly became defensive and paid full attention on blocking opponents’ spikes. Somehow, their effort didn’t bring out desired results. Kazakhstan enjoyed
the perfect tone and continued with hard-hitting. Korea attacked with their top spiker Jong who demonstrated great skills on the court. Korea tried to narrow the gap of points but Kazakhstan ended the set with unstoppable spike by Marveyeva. Korea lost the
first set by lagging behind with a margin of 4 points.
Second set
Kazakhstan’s team was aware of fact that Korea would throw everything in attack, in order to claim the second set. Kazakhstan opened the second set with heavy shots and didn’t allow Korea to come near them. Initially Kazakhstan built a lead of 5-0 and played
very sensibly. They found the rare gaps in Korea’s half and rolled off the ball with measured length. Korean squad seemed helpless in front of Kazak hitters. The setter of Kazakhstan’s team was very quick to poke the ball at various points. She created more
trouble for Korean team by her tricky bump passes over the net. In addition, the sever attack by Zhukova diminished the chances of Korea to make a come-back. The better attack strategy and strong defence enabled Kazakhstan to pull off success in second set.
Korea could only help 16 points in set.
Third set
Kazakhstan wanted to end the game in third set, while Korea brought in best substitutions to prolong the game. Korea relied on the offensive combination of Han Ok Sim and Kim Yong Mi in Third set. The formula worked and Korea earned points. They were able
to build a lead of four points but their happiness was short lived. Kazakhstan turned the wheel around and regained the control of game. With the help of speedy spikes by Dobryshevskaya, Kazakhstan was back in business. Korea tried hard but couldn’t stop Kazakhstan’s
score. Kazakhstan inched its way to victory and eventually closed the third set at 25-22. It seemed as if luck was totally with Kazakhstan on that day. Kazakhstan settled for 5th position in the Asian Games Women’s Volleyball Championship in China.
Top scorers
In the top-scorer category, Jong Jin Sim of Korea settled for the top spot. She contributed 20 points in her team’s score. Similarly, Olga Dobryshevskaya of Kazakhstan captured the second slot by registering 19 points. She compiled 19 points by 17 attack
attempts and incorporating two blocks. The captain, Inna Matveyava posted 12 points via nine attacks, two blocks and one service. Likewise, Olga Nassedkina and Natalya Zhukova helped 11 and 10 respectively.
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