▲ Kim Da-in focuses on training
Kim Da-in (Hyundai Engineering & Construction), the starting setter for the South Korean women's national volleyball team (ranked 28th globally), experienced a major ordeal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held in 2023.
Unlike her usual self, she showed disappointing performance, and in the wake of that, the national team posted poor results.
In particular, the national team won the first and second sets against Vietnam (ranked 32nd) in the group stage, but surrendered the third, fourth, and fifth sets in a row to suffer a comeback defeat, settling for second place in the group and facing a disadvantageous draw against powerhouse China (ranked 7th) in the quarterfinals, ultimately failing to win a medal.
After the tournament, Kim Da-in faced sharp criticism from fans.
Having lost her confidence, she joined her club team, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and crumbled with timid play in the early part of that year's professional V-League.
At the time, then-head coach Kang Sung-hyung said, "Da-in had a really hard time."
The match against Vietnam in Group D of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held today (September 18) at the Park Arena Komaki in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, was a very important game for Kim Da-in.
She needed to pay back the pain from three years ago.
Had South Korea lost today's match, they would have been pushed to second place in the group just like three years ago, forcing them to face China again in the quarterfinals.
While leading the team as a setter, Kim Da-in also played tremendously in both attack and defense.
Today, at the turning points toward the end of the first and second sets, she continuously delivered sharp serves to collapse the opponent's receive line.
In the 24-24 deuce of the third set, she threw her body twice to save Vietnam's powerful spikes with digs, drawing an opponent error.
On this day, Kim Da-in recorded six service aces, and propelled by her performance, the national team defeated Vietnam with a set score of 3-1 to advance to the quarterfinals as the top team in the group.
Steering clear of Group B leader China, South Korea will face Group B runner-up Kazakhstan (ranked 42nd) in the quarterfinals.
Having washed away the pain from three years ago, Kim Da-in met with reporters after the match and said, "Starting from the Asian Women's Volleyball Championship held last month, the national team had difficult matches when our serves didn't go in well. That's why we focused heavily on serve training ahead of the match against Vietnam. I'm glad the training results came out well."
Laughing as she added, "Six service aces is a figure I've never even recorded in the professional stage," she continued, "My rhythm was a bit off, so I approached the game with less power, and fortunately, it led to good results."
After dropping the third set in a deuce battle, didn't the nightmare of Hangzhou cross her mind?
Kim Da-in said, "It was a situation where memories naturally had to come up. Not wanting to repeat that situation, I hardened my resolve and went into the fourth set."
She stated, "Because we had that experience, we were able to push forward stronger without shrinking back. We entered the fourth set with the mindset of taking today's match, and we managed not to repeat the experience from three years ago."
Now, the national team will face Kazakhstan the day after tomorrow.
Kim Da-in vowed, "Our goal is not just the quarterfinals or semifinals. Everyone will join forces and strive to achieve our goal."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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