Video

[Anchor]

The under-17 women's volleyball national team narrowly suffered a comeback defeat against the tournament favorite, Turkey, in the quarterfinals of the World Championship. Although they missed out on the semifinals, their stellar performance throughout the tournament has brightened the future of South Korean women's volleyball.

Reporter Pyeon Gwanghyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

The quarterfinal match took place on Liberation Day, Korea time.

Amid enthusiastic cheers from local Koreans waving the Taegeukgi, our players took the initiative.

Son Seo-yeon repeatedly pierced through Turkey's middle blocker line, and after Choi Min-ju scored a blocking point, the players lifted the atmosphere even higher with joyful celebrations.

Our team easily claimed the first set and succeeded in scoring five consecutive points early in the second set, pulling ahead to 8-2 with a 6-point lead, but failed to maintain that momentum.

Struggling against opponents who were an average of 7 centimeters taller, we handed over the set after a tight deuce and failed to turn the tide once the flow slipped away.

Ace Son Seo-yeon fought hard by scoring a match-high 24 points and boosted her teammates' morale until the end, but ultimately missed out on reaching the semifinals with a 3-1 comeback loss.

Despite their disappointment, our players warmly congratulated their opponents.

Although they did not reach the semifinals, the cheerful volleyball girls' remarkable performance on the international stage shot a ray of hope into South Korean women's volleyball, which has experienced a slump since Kim Yeon-koung's retirement.

With a relentless six-game winning streak, they achieved their initial goal of reaching the quarterfinals. Promising talents who will shoulder the future of South Korean women's volleyball—including "Little Kim Yeon-koung" Son Seo-yeon, who ranks second in tournament scoring, along with Uhm Min-seo and Jang Su-in—proved their potential on the global stage.

Our team will now head into the remaining two classification matches to finish on a high note with a potential fifth-place world ranking.

(Video Editing: Park Jung-sam, Design: Park Tae-young)