The decline in international competitiveness of Korean men’s volleyball is nothing new. His last Olympic appearance was in Sydney in 2000.
Last year, he did not perform well in the two international competitions. If you win, you put all your effort into the Challenger Cup, which gives you the right to participate in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), but only finished in third place. In the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup, it was defeated by weak Bahrain and finished in fourth place. Currently, the FIVB ranking of Korean men’s volleyball is 34th. There is a big gap with Japan (7th) and Iran (10th). The fallen competitiveness also adversely affected the box office success of the V-League.
The springboard for a rebound is, after all, international competition results. First of all, we need to secure competitiveness in Asia.
The men’s national team led by head coach Lim Do-heon carried out a generational change ahead of the first international competition this year. Setter Han (38, Korean Air), middle blocker (center) Shin Young-seok (37, KEPCO), outside heater (left) While veterans such as Kwak Seung-seok (35, Korean Air) were missing, young players in their 20s formed the main axis. The national team, which ignited the generation change in earnest, started training at the Jincheon National Training Center on the 1st.
Director Lim, who used ‘young blood’ last year, is attempting a bigger change this year. He presupposed that “some experienced players have yet to recover from injuries,” but emphasized that “young players should be given more opportunities” to develop international competitiveness. Last year, witnessing the growth of rookies such as Lim Seong-jin (24, KEPCO), I became convinced. Coach Lim said, “I saw Soo-bong Heo, Dong-hyuk Lim, and Kyung-min Park grow while experiencing international competitions. The young players definitely grew up quickly,” he said, stressing that “with the confidence he gained from international competitions, he played more in his team 스포츠토토.”
Starting with the AVC Challenger Cup, the national team will hold the Asian Championships (Iran) in August and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in September. If this generational change produces results, it will gain momentum. Coach Lim emphasized, “It is important to regain confidence through international competition results.”