The South Korean men’s U19 national team, led by head coach Kim Jang-bin, lost to Iran 1-3 25-18, 21-25, 21-25, 16-25 in the semifinals of the 2023 International Volleyball Federation FIVB World Men’s Youth Championship in San Juan, Argentina, at 9 a.m. on the 11th Friday. 스포츠토토핫
The Korean men’s youth team will try for third place in 30 years after finishing third at the 1991 Portuguese Games and the 1993 Turkish Games, respectively.
Since then, Iran, runner-up Russia, third-place Japan, and fourth-place South Korea have won the 2017 tournament in Bahrain. In the 2019 tournament in Tunisia, Italy, runner-up Russia, third-place Argentina, and South Korea ranked 11th.
South Korea won the first set 25-18 in the semifinals, and the second set was 21-25 to Iran, making the set score 1-1.
South Korea, which returned to square one and faced the third set, chased Iran with Lee Yong-jae OH, Suseong High School being put in, but gave up the third set 21-25 following the second set.
The Korean cheering squad hung a large Taegeukgi in the center of the stadium and half of the spectators cheered for the Korean team. The fourth set started with three points to Iran first and was blocked by serve and blocking, leading to a 3-11.
South Korea followed Lee Woo-jin OH/ Gyeongbuk Physical Education, 194cm to 9-15, chasing 5-11. At 16-9, the main gun Lee Woo-jin OH/ Gyeongbuk Physical Education High School, 194cm hit the ball in the face and fell out, widening the score gap to 10-20.
Yoon Ha-joon OH/ Suseong High School, 194cm and Lee Sung-jin MB/ Sokcho High School, 196cm were put in to make 12-20. He chased 16-24 but lost to Iran by giving up four sets as he finished 16-25 as South Korea’s serve was out.
In team attacks, South Korea gave up the upper hand by being blocked by Iran’s serve and blocking with 50-53, blocking 8-15, serving ace 0-6, error 19-24, and Dig 52-51. In the match, South Korea scored 17 points for Yoon Seo-jin OH/ Suseong High School, 195 cm, 16 points for Lee Woo-jin OH/ Gyeongbuk Physical Education High School, 194 cm, 7 points for Jung Song-yoon MB/ Suncheon Jeil High School, 195 cm, 6 points for Yoon Kyung OH/ Namseong High School, 192 cm, 5 points for Jang-seok MB/ Sokcho High School, 202 cm, 4 points for Lee Yong-jae OH/ Suseong High School, 187 cm, and 3 cm.
In the previous semi-final match between the U.S. and France, France shut out the U.S. with a set score of 3-0 25-12, 25-17, 25-12. The third-place match of the tournament will be played against South Korea and the U.S. at 5 a.m. on the 12th Thursday and the final will be played between France and Iran at 8 a.m.