Nakhon, Ratchasima, Thailand, September 21, 2008 – Korea, Doha Asian Games gold medal winner, came from behind to beat world number 10 China in a clash of Titans.on Day two of the inaugural Asian Men’s Cup Volleyball Championship at The Mall’s MCC Hall here on Sunday.

The much-awaited battle between Saturday’s winners Korea and China was intensivelt contested with the highly spirited Koreans fighting back from1-2 deficit to overcome Beijing Olympic quarterfinallists China in five sets.

This match was a rematch of the 2006 Asian Games gold-medal match between Korea and China which saw the world number 19 Koreans, loaded with sporting excellence including scintillating blocks, spectacular spikes and terrific jump serves, field a strong line-up. Powered by devastating left-hander Park Chul-Woo, who led the team with 23 points including 20 kills, Korea comfortably snatched the first-set win 25-16.

After a letdown in the opener, hard-attacking Cui Jiajun gave China a strong comeback in the second set. They tightened their defence, improved their reception and hit back with deadly cross-court spikes to capture the hard-fought set 25-23 for a 1-1 equaliser.

Korea led initially 4-1 in the third set, but they became more prone with spiking errors. China closed the margin at 4-4 and stretched it to 8-7. From then on, both sides poured in everything they had in a determined effort of winning the set.The on-going battle became a thriller, with leads changing hands for several times. After a few powerful smashes, the Koreans pleased a large crowd in the competition hall with their exceptional skills to advance 20-17. China, which fielded five players who played in the recent Beijing Olympic Games, fought back bravely to catch the crack rivals at 21-21.

Both teams changed several substitutions to improve their game and they fought hard for crucial points. China took the lead for good at 24-23 before Cui Jiajun, who scored 11 attack hits from 20 attempts in the previous match against Thailand, changed his tactics by strangely executing a left-hand spike to give China a 25-23 win in the see-saw set.

Taking a 2-1 set advantage, China rolled on their attacking rhythm in the fourth set, which they took an initial 11-9 lead and went on to lead 24-22. The Koreans regrouped for a better fortune in the tussle and their attempts paid off impressive as they forced China for a deuce at 24-24. From then, both teams came out with the similar standard to equalize 26-26, 27-27 and 28-28. Korea carried out a better form to win the close set 30-28.

In the do-or-die decider, the Koreans took the initial lead 6-3, thanks largely to Park’s devastating cross-court spikes. However, China counter-attacked well to close the margin 9-9. At 12-12, the Koreans stretched it to 14-12 before the 210cm-tall Chinese Bian Hogmin’s spike went unanswered to narrow the gap 13-14. Korea still played cool without pressure to win the set 15-13 and the hard-fought 3-2 match.