 Nagano, Japan, August 25, 2010 - After a convincing 3-1 victory over Japan yesterday, Korea beat the hosts once again on their home court in Nagano today, taking the match again 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-22), securing their spot in next year's FIVB World League.
Korea started off defending strong, shutting down Japan's star Kunihiro Shimizu at the net a number of times. Korean ace Sung-Min Moon picked up where he left off in the previous match for the visiting team with strong attacks to put Korea on top 8-7 going into the first TTO. Japan's giant Yusuke Ishijimi woke up from yesterday's quiet performance with a pair of vicious spikes, one that soared almost to the rafters off a Korean defender. The lefty Shimizu evened the score at 13 with a kill to follow shortly after. The teams stayed close with Yoshihiro Matsumoto defending well at the net with two blocks for points to put Japan slightly ahead 18-17. Japan moved ahead with a block on Moon giving them set point, after Korea took a point back, Tatsuya Fukuzawa won the set for the hosts (25-23) with a kill.
The second set saw numerous serving errors to start from both teams, but Korea moved ahead to make it 7-4. But Japan held tight and evened the match at 10-all with a spike down the middle by Takaaki Tomimatsu. Korea's Moon was serving well for a second straight day, with a pair of aces mid-set leaving the visitors with a slim 16-15 lead at the second TTO. Some poor receiving followed by the hosts, allowing Korea to jump ahead by four, and a kill by Moon made it 20-16. A late run by Japan, on the back of Koshikawa's incredible serving and a pair of kills by Ishijima, brought the home team back to within two points. But in the end an unfortunate net serve on Korea's set point gave it to the visitors, 25-23 (1-1).
Japan didn't serve well to open the third set either, with Korea up 4-2 after two service errors by the hosts. They held that lead until the first TTO with Lee Kang-Joo putting a cheeky tip behind Japan's defenders to make it 8-6. Tomimatsu played with his typical finesse at the net, keeping Japan close with a soft tip that hit the mark. But the visitors held their lead nonetheless, eventually going up 18-14 on a powerful strike by Chul-Woo Park. Japan stayed close though with strong offensive pressure and a little luck as well, coming within one on an errant strike by Shin Young-Soo making it 22-21 for Korea. A block on Shimizu gave Korea set point, but Yu Koshikawa had a block of his own to stay alive. But Korea would close it out 26-24 when seldom used Han Sun-Soo shut down Koshikawa at the net, putting the visitors up 2-1.
The teams exchanged points to start the fourth until strong serving by Han gave Korea a 7-5 edge. But an ace from Fukuzawa and a lucky bounce off the net for Shimizu brought Japan even at 10 all. Korea kept the pressure on with kills from Lee Sun-Kyu and Kim Hyun-soo to make it 16-14, but Japan were stubborn on their home court however, drawing even at 18 on a kill from Shimizu. In the end Korea were too powerful for the hosts again today, with a strike by Shin Yung-Suk setting up match point, and the finishing dagger driven home by Lee Sun-Kyu.
Point leaders on the day were Moon with 17 for the victorious Korean side, while Japan's Shimizu led all scorers on the day with 18. |