Even the fact that I fell in the semifinals makes me feel sick, but I was even bombarded in the evaluation. The bitter voice of the opposing mercenary drove a wedge.  

On the 18th (local time), in the 2023 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championships quarterfinal group stage held at Isa Sports City in Manama, Bahrain, Korean Air defeated Japan’s Suntory Sunbirds with a set score of 0-3 (21-25, 19-25, 19-25) and lost the scoreless set.

The crime that occurred in the V-League also caught Korean Air’s ankles this time. In the first set alone, 9 breaches broke out. In the mid-to-late half of the set, they barely caught up by 16-18, 2 points, but the Japanese mercenaries were too strong. The one-man show of Dmitry Mushalsky (Russia), a world-renowned player with a height of 218 cm, stood in the way of Korean Air. In addition to an open attack using a high-altitude RBI, Mushal Ski also blocked Jeong Han-yong’s feint attack, demoralizing his opponent. 

Jeong Ji-seok, who showed extreme sluggishness by only scoring 3 points in the first and second sets, was completely absent. Still, the 3rd set became a one-sided drag. Muchhalski even took a break from the set. 

Korean Air was hit hard by the fact that all veterans were missing. The main players such as setter Han Seon-seok, Kwak Seung-seok, and Kim Gyu-min did not come forward, and they were further shaken. Yoo Kwang-woo also dropped out from the middle. The seniors had to sit in the stands and watch their juniors get pushed back by fierce opponent attacks.

Even more heartbreaking was the review of Mushalski after the match. After meeting with Korean reporters after the game, when asked to evaluate Korean Air’s level, Mushalski threw the words, “Honestly, it’s around 9th to 11th.” There are 10 men’s teams in the Japanese V-League. In fact, it is a very low evaluation to a level other than the standard value. 

He lifted the combined championship trophy for three consecutive years in the V-League, but was coldly lacking on the international stage. Beomsil, who was also considered a stumbling block on the domestic stage, also got in the way here. In March of last year, Korean Air had a terrible record of pouring out 47 errors, the most errors in a single V-League game, at the KEPCO. It has become more urgent to develop crisis management capabilities on the international stage. In the match against Suntory, 28 came out in three sets. That’s an average of 10 errors per set. 

Mushalski, who said that he had faced Korea for the first time on this day, gave only a short evaluation that “the defense was good” in the positive part. 토토사이트

Coach Tillikainen, who greatly reduced the off-season team’s rest and participated in the Asian volleyball competition, also had no choice but to admit a crushing defeat. He said, “I said I was defending myself, but it wasn’t enough,” and pointed out Payne, saying, “If Mushalski first attacked, if he bounced or defended, we should take advantage of the opportunity and score, but if we miss that opportunity, it’s over.” The biggest loss was that the serve or performance I wanted to do didn’t come out at all. 

The command tower’s goal of “no frogs in the well, I will show and stimulate teams and players who play volleyball at a higher level beyond Korea” has been realized. However, the key is what kind of shockwave the loss would have to the domestic team, which is trying to build a new dynasty of 4 consecutive championships. 

Now, Korean Air has a game against Mongolia’s Bayanhongor at 11:30 am local time (5:30 pm Korean time). Coach Tillikainen announced that he would send all players who did not play much in the match. 

Meanwhile, Mushalski, born in 1988, belongs to the Russian men’s volleyball national team and has been playing for Japan’s Suntory Sunbirds since the 2018-19 season. He is evaluated as a player who specializes in advanced attacks and blocking using his overwhelmingly large height.

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