Korean Air defeated OK Financial Group with a set score of 3-2 (27-25 16-25 21-25 25-20 15-13) in the third round of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League Men’s Championship (three wins out of five) held at Sangnoksu Gymnasium in Ansan on the 2nd.
Korean Air, which won the championship match with three wins and no losses, has achieved four consecutive integrated wins (No. 1 in the regular league, winning the championship match) until this season following the 2020-2021 season, 2021-2022 season, and 2022-2023 season.
This is the best gold medalist in the V-League, which beat Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (2011-2012 season – 2013-2014 season) for three consecutive championships. Korean Air also won its fifth championship title, ranking second overall in the number of championships, beating Hyundai Capital (four times). Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (eight times) has the most wins.
Korean Air’s ‘high-flying’ beyond Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance… MVP Jung Ji-seok
Korean Air, which finished second in the regular league and went straight to the championship game by dramatically crossing Woori Card to first place at the last minute, overwhelmed OK Financial Group after finishing the reorganization at a generous break.
Korean Air’s fourth consecutive win was not confirmed until the fifth set. At 13-13, when the two teams were tied at odds, Korean Air setter Yoo Kwang-woo attempted a time difference attack by Jeong Han-yong and reached the “championship point” when he hit the court of OK Financial Group.
Soon after receiving Cho Jae-young’s toss, Kim Min-jae hit a fastball to avoid the opponent’s blocker, and Korean Air players cheered and enjoyed the excitement of winning.
Coach Tommy Tilikainen from Finland, who has led Korean Air since the 2021-2022 season, has set a new milestone for the V League’s foreign head coach as he has led the team to three consecutive combined wins so far this season.
Ahead of the championship match, he threw a match to replace foreign players with Apogit Spiker Maxim Zigarov (registered name Maxim), and Maxim scored 52 points in the three championship matches to help Korean Air win.
Native striker Jung Ji-seok won 22 out of a total of 31 votes in the press corps vote and was selected as the MVP of the championship game.
Due to back injury he suffered at the Hangzhou Asian Games, he skipped the first and second rounds of the regular season and started playing from the third round, but had difficulty recovering his skills. However, when the championship game began, he played as a member of the national team and won the MVP for the second time in his career after the 2020-2021 season.
On the other hand, OK Financial Group, which reached the championship match for the first time in eight years after winning two consecutive 2014-2015 and 2015-2016, had to celebrate Korean Air’s victory without overcoming its inferiority in physical strength.
However, OK Financial Group’s challenge deserves applause. Having failed to advance to the volleyball tournament in spring, OK Financial Group has appointed Ogiino, the first Japanese coach in the V-League, as the coach for this season.
Ogino ordered stable floater serve instead of spike serve, which poses a high risk of error. He also focused on dispersing attacks that were handled by ‘main gun’ Leonardo Leiva Martinez (registered name Leo).
OK Financial Group’s new volleyball team suffered trial and error as it lost all six games in the third round. However, it made a remarkable turnaround with all six games in the fourth round, and started volleyball in the spring as it ranked third in the regular season.
The strong wind has strengthened in the spring volleyball tournament. She beat Hyundai Capital in the semi-playoff and Woori Card in the play-off, advancing to the championship game and challenging Korean Air. However, she failed to overcome her inferiority by losing the first and second games and had a close full set match in the third game, but she did not see any more reversal.
Leo played with 33 points, including a triple crown (three or more points each after a game, blocking, and serving), but failed to prevent OK Financial Group from losing.
Nevertheless, attention is being paid to how much stronger the OK Financial Group will be next season by Ogiino’s magic, which caused a fresh wind by advancing to the championship game and volleyball from the first season of the V League. 토토사이트 추천