Cesar Ho, who met Lavarini’s Poland, fought well but lost… 2nd consecutive loss in Paris Olympic qualifiers

Korean women’s volleyball (36th in the world rankings) lost to powerhouse Poland (7th) in the second match of the 2024 Paris Olympics qualifiers.

Korea, led by coach Cesar Hernández González, lost to Poland with a set안전놀이터 score of 1-3 (22-25 26-24 21-25 9-25) in the second match of Group C of the preliminaries held in Łódź, Poland on the 18th. Korea, which lost to Italy with a set score of 0-3 the previous day, suffered its second consecutive loss.

The match on this day attracted attention due to the meeting with former head coach Stefano Lavarini, who is leading Poland. The national team shook off their lethargy and showed their fighting spirit.

The national team showed grit from the first set and took the second set at deuce. At 14-19, Korea succeeded in chasing a 3-point gap due to a mistake in the opponent’s serve and attack, and at 16-20, Ho-young Jeong (Cheong Kwan-jang) succeeded in scoring a blocking goal at the end of a rally, gaining momentum.

At 18-21, Kang So-hwi’s open attack and the opposing team’s Beomsil tied the score at 21-21. Then, the opposing team’s net touch and blocking by Beomsil and Jooah Lee brought the score back to 23-21. At 24-24 deuce, Seungju Pyo (IBK Industrial Bank of Korea) scored consecutive goals to take the set.

With Kang So-hwi and Pyo Seung-bu scoring 16 and 15 points respectively, the national team fought closely until the third set, but was unable to turn the game around.

Korea will play the third group match against Germany (12th) on the 19th. Korea is in Group C of the preliminary round with Italy, Poland, Germany, the United States, Colombia, Thailand, and Slovenia, and must place in second place out of eight teams to advance to the finals of the Paris Olympics.