The South Korean men’s national volleyball team, ranked 27th in the world, will compete at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, from Sept. 19-26, the Korea Volleyball Association announced on Friday. The Hangzhou Asian Games will kick off on the 23rd, but the men’s volleyball competition, which features 19 teams, will begin on the 19th and conclude on the 26th.
The men’s volleyball team, coached by Lim Do-heon, 51, is in Group C and will face India (ranked 73rd – 20 days) and Cambodia (unranked – 21 days) in the preliminary round. The top two finishers will advance to the round of 12, where they will begin their quest for a medal in earnest.
The national team is composed of 12 players. Half of them are from Korean Air, the overall winners of the 2022-2023 V League (1st place in the regular season and championship match).
Veterans Han (38-Korean Air) and Hwang Taek-ui (27-Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps), who was the regular season MVP last season, will be the setters to spearhead the offense.
Heo Soo-bong (25-Hyundai Capital) and Lim Dong-hyuk (24-Korean Air) will be the apogee spikers. Jeon Kwang-in (32-Hyundai Capital), military service member Na Kyung-bok (29-Ministry of Defense), Jeong Ji-seok (28), and Jeong Jung-yong (22-Korean Air) are the four outside hitters. Kim Kyu-min (33), Kim Min-jae (20-Korean Air) and Kim Jun-woo (23-Samsung Fire) will be the middle blockers, with one libero, Park Kyung-min (24-Hyundai Capital).
Korean men’s volleyball has finished on the podium in 14 consecutive tournaments, from Bangkok 1966 (silver) to Jakarta-Palembang 2018 (silver). They have won gold three times (1978 Bangkok, 2002 Busan, 2006 Doha) and silver (seven) and bronze (four). However, medal prospects aren’t as bright at the Games. The men’s volleyball team is currently ranked 27th in the world and fourth in Asia behind Japan (5th), Iran (11th), and Qatar (17th). China (29th) is close behind.
However, Japan, Iran, Qatar, and China will begin qualifying for next year’s Paris Olympics on Nov. 30, right after the Asian Games. It’s hard not to think about physical preparation. On the other hand, South Korea, which did not qualify for the Paris Olympics, plans to go all out for the Asian Games. The men”s volleyball team will be looking to redeem itself at the Asian Games after a poor showing in recent international competitions.스포츠토토
The men’s volleyball team will depart from Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 at 12:25 p.m. on Aug. 16, along with the Korean beach volleyball team, on flight OZ359 to Hangzhou.