(Asiad) S. Korea lost Japan in men's volleyball quarterfinals

INCHEON, Oct. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea lost to Japan 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-18, 25-23) in the quarterfinals of the men's volleyball at the Asian Games on Thursday.

The home team will now face China in the bronze-medal decider on Friday. China lost to Iran 3-0 in the semifinals on the other side of the draw.

Iran, ranked 10th in the world, the highest among Asian countries, has been on a roll since the 6th-place finish in the world championships last month and aims for its first-ever gold at the Asian Games.

In the match against Japan at Sangroksu Gymnasium in Ansan on the outskirts of Icheon, South Korea struggled with defending two Japanese attackers, Yuki Ishikawa and Yu Koshikawa, from the very beginning. Japan took an early 8-1 control at the first technical timeout and extended the lead to 18-13.

Ishikawa blocked South Korean left-handed opposite Park Chul-woo's spike to make it 22-16 and the Japanese allowed only two points to take the set 25-19 in 23 minutes.

The second set started in a tight seesaw battle until 10-10. Park Sang-ha blocked Yu Koshikawa to give his team the 12-10 lead and Park Chul-woo regained his best form to broaden the gap to 18-14.

Koshikawa blocked Park's smashes as Japan trailed to 18-16, but it couldn't break through South Korea's solid defense. South Korea capped the set 25-18 and leveled the game 1-1.

In the third set, however, South Korea's defense and reception faltered, failing to catch a lead throughout the set.

Ishikawa executed an ace in the beginning to give his team a 4-1 lead, and his second ace made the game 18-13.

South Korea caught up at 21-17 by quick attacks from Choi Min-ho and sharp smashes from Kwak Seung-suk, but couldn't make a comeback. The third set went to Japan 25-18.

The two teams exchanged attacks in turn in the beginning of the fifth set before South Korea's southpaw Seo Jae-duck fielded spectacular spikes to take it 15-13. But again the game went even at 17-17 after Park Sang-ha's quick attack was blocked by Akihiro Yamauchi.

As Japan's captain Koshikawa blocked Seo's two back attacks in a row, Japan grabbed the match point at 24-22.

South Korea counterattacked to save the first match point, but the hard-fought set ended at 25-23 in favor of Japan.

Japan's Yu Koshikawa earned the match-best 22 points, including four blocks and three aces, while Yuki Ishikawa scored 14.

South Korea's Park Chul-woo and Jeon Kwang-in gained 10 points each.

brk@yna.co.kr
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