South Korea Men's Volleyball Team Beats Taiwan to Advance to Quarterfinals

The South Korean men's volleyball team (world No. 25), seeking its first Summer Asian Games medal in 8 years, has advanced to the quarterfinals with its second consecutive win in the group stage.

Led by head coach Isanaye Ramirez, the South Korean national team defeated Taiwan (world No. 55) 3-1 (24-26, 25-10, 25-15, 25-23) in their Group D match of the men's volleyball tournament at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at Park Arena Komaki in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, today (the 28th).

Having easily defeated the Philippines 3-0 yesterday, South Korea secured another victory against Taiwan to claim the top spot in Group D with 2 wins (6 points).

China, which also has 2 wins, sits with 5 points after beating Taiwan 3-2 yesterday.

South Korea will play its final group match against China for the group's top spot at the same venue tomorrow.

If South Korea secures first place in Group D, it will face the runner-up of Group B in the quarterfinals.

Group B includes Iran (No. 19), Thailand (No. 52), Indonesia (No. 45), and Kyrgyzstan (No. 81).

In the South Korean attack, Heo Soo-bong (Hyundai Capital) led the scoring with 18 points, while Lim Dong-hyuk (Korean Air) contributed 16 points, combining for 34 points from the wings.

After narrowly losing the first set to Taiwan due to receiving errors following a close battle, South Korea turned the momentum around starting from the second set by neutralizing the opponent's receive with strong serves.

Limiting Taiwan to the 10-point range in both the second and third sets to turn the match around to 2-1, South Korea faced strong resistance from Taiwan in the fourth set.

Trailing 21-22 late in the fourth set, South Korea leveled the score with a powerful attack by Heo Soo-bong, followed by a block from Lee Sang-hyun to take a 23-22 lead.

Although momentum seemed to slip away after Heo Soo-bong committed a service error to allow a tie, Lim Dong-hyuk scored to reach match point, and the match was wrapped up following an opponent error.
 

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.