South Korea retains Asian Volleyball Championship title

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, September 13, 2003

South Korea retains Asian Volleyball Championship title

South Korea came from 2-1 down to beat China 3-2 and defended its title at the 12th Asian Men's Volleyball Championship here on Friday.

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South Korea came from 2-1 down to beat China 3-2 and defended its title at the 12th Asian Men's Volleyball Championship here on Friday.

The defending champion outlasted China 27-25, 22-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-8 to finish first in the four-team round-robin final round with three wins against no loss.

China took the silver medal after finishing second with two wins and a loss in the final round. China and South Korea also clinched the two berths for Asia in the World Cup in Japan in November.

"Generally speaking, we played to our normal standard today," said Chinese head coach Di An'he at the press conference after the match that lasted for one hour and 49 minutes. "But we had problems with our serving."

"We made too many mistakes in serving," Di added.

The Chinese stayed within 5-4 in the tiebreaker. But they suddenly lost the steam as South Korea pulled away with a 6-1 run to make it 10-6.

South Korea continued to enlarge the lead and snatched its fourth crown.

"Our players were not so determined after losing the fourth set," Di said.

South Korea opened with a 7-3 run in the match between two traditional volleyball powerhouses in Asia. China clawed its way back at 9-9 following several controversial calls in favor of the host by Saudi Arabian referee Mohammed H.A.

After the two sides fought to a 25-25 draw, Zhang Xiaodong served into the net, giving South Korea its third set point. Then Shin Young-soo and Shin Sun-ho clinched the opener for South Korea by stuffing China's ace spiker Shi Hairong.

Roared on by more than 8,000 home fans, China rallied in the second set. The Chinese ran off three straight points for a 22-18advantage and held on to win the set 25-22.

The South Koreans were forced to the brink of the cliff after China led all the way to take the third set, but they fought back into the game with tenacious defense, forcing the tiebreaker with the well deserved 25-21 win in the fourth.

Tang Miao's 23 points and libero Chu Hui's 12 digs were not enough to save China from their first loss at the tournament, which attracted 15 teams to compete.

Shin Young-soo led South Korea with 21 points and Lee Kyung-sooand Yeo Oh-Hyun added six digs each.

Earlier on Friday, Iran beat Australia for third place. Australia had to settle for the fourth ahead of India.

Top five finishers from the tournament will participate in the Athens Olympics qualifying tournament.

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