Korea overwhelm Kazakhs

With further competition placements being decided in the women's volleyball competition, Korea defeated a tired Kazakhstan team in straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-14) at Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall to finish fifth in the tournament.

Korea ran out comfortable winners after Kazakhstan started the match poorly - moving sluggishly and being slack in defence. The Koreans capitalised on this poor start, attacking at will, and took control of the first set.

The game finally sparked into life in the second set when Kazakhstan captain Yelena Pavlova spiked the ball down the right flank and Kim Yeon Koung of Korea answered in similar fashion.

The Kazakh blockers lifted the pace of play from their ordinary performance in the first set, but reception errors proved costly and the Koreans doubled their lead.

Service errors once again dominated the third set and Korea scored easy points through tips over the net from captain Kim Sa Nee. The Kazakh defenders were constantly left flat footed and, when they failed to block a string of Korean attacks, the match was only going to have one winner.

"It was an easy game," said a relieved but disappointed Kim after the match. "I expected a tougher match. However, we regret the result of the Asian Games because we are out of the semifinals.

"Our younger players are the best players in Korea right now but they have limitations in their skills when it comes to an international level. So during the Games we recognised that we should improve our skills especially for the young players."

Meanwhile, frustrated Kazakhstan coach Vyacheslav Shapran said, "I planned for this match because I know the Korean team is very good. I did many tactics and substitutions, but I think my players did not play well.

"My players could not block the middle, we had so many service errors and the reception was very bad. My players made many mistakes and they gave the chance to Korea to be better than us.

"I am not satisfied with getting this sixth place. We are supposed to be in third or fourth place, but I think we were unlucky to get into that position."

15th Asian Games, Doha 2006