Korea earns bronze ware at the 2010 Asian Games Men’s Volleyball Tournament
Korea outplayed Thailand by posting 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, and 28-26) in the bronze medal match of the 16th Asian Games Men’s Volleyball Championship on Friday, 26th November, 2010. The Zhongdo Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China hosted the match
in the evening. The Korean team entered the tournament with big plans to capture the gold medal but could only get their hands on the bronze medal.
Both teams were fully prepared for the clash. Korea was equipped with a great player line up, while Thailand brought in better substitutions for the third-position match. However, Korea played in great style and took the game away from Thailand.
First set
Korea opened the match on the right foot. They served with great skill and dominated the early phases of the game. Park Chul Woo delivered long jump serves and received huge applause from the audience for scoring early points in the game. Thailand’s libero
had a hard time receiving the shooting balls from the Korean side. Moon Sung Ming was very active over the net. He found the perfect gaps in Thailand’s half and deceived the Thai players with tricky bump passes. Thailand Wanchai worked out nice cut shots and
helped his team’s score. But Korea maintained their lead and didn’t let Thailand take control of the game. Korea remained consistent in rolling the ball with intensity and covered the length of the first set with better score. Thailand tried hard but couldn’t
avoid the chances of loss in the first set. The Koreans posted 25-19 and secured the first set.
Second Set
The success in the opening set put the Korean team in great rhythm. On the other hand, Thailand embarked on an aggressive display of attacks but failed to achieve the desire results. Korean Shin Yung Suk killed many Thai spikes and saved points for Korea.
After trying differing ways and being unsuccessful, Thailand realised that defeat was near. They were drafted under pressure, which resulted in more bad performance. Too many unforced mistakes made it easy for Korea to edge Thailand out in the second set.
Thailand suffered another set-back, while Korean strengthened their lead by taking second set. They polled 25-17 victory over Thailand.
Third Set
After dropping two sets in row, Thailand were totally flabbergasted and at the same time disgusted by their shaky performance. They reacted violently against Korea’s strike in the third set. It was really tough for Thailand to break the tempo of the Korean
hitters but they tried with full power. Korea resisted strongly but Thailand finally pushed them behind to take a lead of 8-7. The explosive spiking by Thailand’s top spiker Jirayu raksakaew created a lot of trouble for Korea. Nonetheless, Korea hit back and
tried to overcome the power of Thailand.
Thailand didn’t stop and continued hitting the ball with the same pace. Korea lagged behind but were able to bring the game to an even point at 18-18. Thailand sparked on the scene and added two consecutive points to break the tie. Korea followed it up with
a perfect equalizer and once again tied the score at 20-20. The point-to-point battle in the third set provided great entertainment to the spectators. Both sides attacked aggressively and tied the score at 26-26. The suspense and uncertainty overwhelmed the
game. Finally Park Chui Woo and Moon Sung Min of Korea ended the tussle and contributed final two points to close the set at 28-26.
Thai head coach Monchai Supajirakul said, “This is our best record in history. I think we have tried our utmost, the result if good for now.
Korean top scorer Park Chui Woo said that, “It is a pity that we did not get the gold medal. Our goal was the gold medal but the face was we lost. It is great that we win a bronze medal.”
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