Seoul, Korea, July 3, 2016 - Korea have done it! Once again led by their top scorer Jae-Duck Seo, the Koreans have won their last match at the FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 Group 2 tournament in Seoul and made it three in three to please the home fans after the six-game losing streak from the previous two tournaments away. At the same time, losing by 2-3 (16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 21-25, 16-18), the Netherlands have put their spot in next week’s finals in Portugal at risk.
Jae-Duck Seo contributed 28 points, including four aces, to Korea’s win. Wouter Ter Maat was the best scorer on the Dutch side with 19 points, while his teammate Jasper Diefenbach impressed with seven blocking points.
This was only the third victory for Korea over the Netherlands in the 23 matches they have played in the history of the World League.
In the first set Korea pressed hard on the Netherlands with strong organizational power. Korea opened up a wide lead by continuous swift attacks and powerful hits from the left by Jiseok Jung and from the right by Jae-Duck Seo.
Unlike the first set, Korea made abundant unforced errors in reception and defense and allowed the Netherlands to take the second and and the third sets to flip the lead.
Korea did not give up and with their strong willpower concentrated to take the fourth and the fifth sets. They finished the match by pressing the Netherlands again like in the first set with stable defense and offense. With Hak-Min Kim, Jae-Duck Seo and Jiseok Jung on fire, Korea managed to finish their last match of this year’s World League with a victory.