Korea defeats Peru to claim Olympic ticket – Volleyball news
In front of 4,300 volleyball enthusiasts at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym on Sunday, Korean ladies staged an eye-catching action and downed Peru to claim the Olympic berth.
In their last match of the 2012 FIVB Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament, Korea held off Peru for 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-21) victory. Peruvian team started off slow and gradually picked pace but dropped the decision in consecutive sets. Korea displayed
a consistent performance and marched away with the influential victory.
Korean success was mainly credited to Hwang Youn-Joo, who chipped in match-high 14 points. Likewise, Jung Dae-Young ended with 11 points and contributed to the overall success of Korea in the match. Karla Oritz created a bit of spark for Peru with her 10
points.
Opening frame of the match was more of a one-sided affair. Team Peru seemed totally out of form and failed to give any competition to the opponent.
Therefore, Korea dominated the scene and kept the game in hand from start to end. Koreans had better attack strategy, which enabled them to build a strong lead. Peru stood with 6-point deficit at the FTT and failed to bring any change until the end of first
set. Korea secured the opening stanza with 14 points, 25-11. Han Song-Yi and Uribe were the real heroines in the first set as they drew all the attention with their aces and spikes.
After dropping the opening set, Peruvian coach regrouped the players and encouraged them to stand on their feet. With a better plan, Peru managed to come close of Korea in the second set. Korea, which picked up an early lead, trailed behind at the first
technical timeout (7-8). Peru led the score for a couple of minutes but Korea bounced back at 14-13. Thereafter, Korea led the operations of the game and put an end to second set at 25-18.
It was a ‘do or die’ situation for Peru in the third set. Peruvian team played to its full potential and considerably improved but still could not manage to avoid defeat. Korea posted 25-21 in third set and settled for match victory.
“We have reached our goal of making the Olympics. Volleyball stagnated in Korea after we failed to make the Beijing Games. We hope this success will encourage our men's team to make it London as well. Thirty six years ago the Korean women took the bronze
medal and we will go to London with the goal of getting a medal as well,” said Korean coach Kim Hyung-Sil after the match.
His Peruvian counterpart Luca Cristofani, praised the effort of his players and wished them luck for future. He revealed, “The average age of the players is just 20. I think we can become one of the top eight teams in the world in the future.”
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