Invitational team Japan’s Panasonic Panthers defeated Samsung Fire to complete a three-game winning streak in the group stage of the 2023 Gumi Dodram Cup Professional Volleyball Competition (KOVO Cup).
Panasonic defeated Samsung Fire in straight sets, 3-2 (25-17 25-19 28-30 23-25 15-13), in the third match of the men’s Group B preliminary round at the Gumi Park Jung-hee Gymnasium in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, on Nov. 11.
Panasonic, which topped Group B with three wins, will play Group A runner-up OK Financial Group at 4 p.m. on Wednesday for a ticket to the final.
Takahiko Imamura led the way with 19 points. Keitaro Nishikawa chipped in with 15 points.
Meanwhile, Samsung Chemicals, which lost the Group 1 championship game, advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 record and second place in Group B. They will meet Group A champion Korean Air in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Park Sung-jin led the way with 22 points and Shin Shin-ho had 20, but a lack of late-game heart cost them.
After winning the first and second sets in straight sets, Panasonic was on the verge of a shutout victory in the third set at 24-22, but could not withstand Samsung Fire’s onslaught and lost the third set after conceding a deuce.
Panasonic seemed to panic and dropped the fourth set to Samsung Fire to level the set at 2-2.
However, in the fifth set, Panasonic showed a strong focus. With the score tied at 13-13, they scored two consecutive points to win the match.
Meanwhile, in the earlier Group B match between Hyundai Capital and KEPCO, Hyundai Capital won the set 3-1 (25-20 18-25 25-22 25-22).
Hyundai Capital, which had already lost two straight games to miss the semifinals, finished the tournament in third place in Group A with a 1-2 record.
HMC was led on offense by Lee Seung-jun with 28 points, followed by Kim Sun-ho with 13 points.
KEPCO, on the other hand, ended the tournament without a win after losing all three games. 스포츠토토
KEPCO’s Lee Tae-ho led the way with 31 points, but the team lacked options to back him up.
Hyundai Capital focused on the third set, which was tied 1-1. With the score tied at 22-22, they took the lead with a kill by Jung Tae-joon, followed by an effective block by Kim Sun-ho, a successful defense and an attack by Lee Seung-jun.
At 24-22, Ham Hyung-jin’s dig and Lee Seung-jun’s hard hit ended it.
The fourth set was a similar story. Once again, the score was tied at 22-22, but this time, Jung Tae-joon and Ham Hyung-jin got back-to-back blocks to gain momentum and eventually win the set.