The South Korean women’s national team’s world ranking has dropped to 33rd.
The South Korean women’s national team, coached by Cesar Hernández González, has failed to win a set during their seven-match losing streak at the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) through the third match of Week 2. It’s a grim picture, with both teams suffering shutout losses.
South Korea’s world ranking has also been on a steep decline. The team earned 8.84 points in its last match of the 2022 FIVB World Championship on Oct. 1 in Gdansk, Poland, when it defeated Croatia 3-1. With 149.12 points, they rose to 23rd in the world rankings. This qualifies them for the final qualifying round for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Łódź, Poland, this September.
Since then, the team has had a tough schedule. In Week 1 of the VNL in Antalya, Turkey, South Korea, which started the week ranked 24th in the world (depending on how the other competitors fared), lost to Turkmenistan (ranked 7th/below at the time of the match) and scored 146.27 points (-2.85).
A loss to Canada (ranked 16th) the next day dropped Korea to 139.14 points (-7.13). Their world ranking dropped one spot to 25th. South Korea then lost to the United States (#3) for a score of 138.10 (-1.05) and to Thailand (#14) for a score of 132.05 (-6.05). They dropped back down one spot to 26th.
Traveling to Brasilia, Brazil, South Korea lost their first match of VNL Week 2 to No. 1 Brazil on their home court, scoring 131.26 (-0.79) points. They dropped to 27th in the rankings.
Korea then lost to Japan (No. 7), dropping to 129.32 (-1.94) points, before losing to Croatia (No. 30), the team they beat at the World Championship on April 16, dropping to 118.99 (-10.33) points. South Korea lost more than 10 points to a team ranked lower than them. They dropped a whopping six spots from 27th to 33rd. Croatia, on the other hand, gained 10.33 points and jumped from 30th to 26th.
South Korea will play their final game of VNL Week 2 against Germany (ranked 11th) at 5 a.m. on Nov. 19. This game is not going to be easy. The team is slipping down the rankings and is unfortunately being overtaken by countries that did not participate in the VNL.
The national team has a tough schedule ahead. In week 3 of the VNL in Suwon, the team faces tougher opponents in Bulgaria (16th), the Dominican Republic (10th), China (3rd), and Poland (8th). The rankings could fall further.메이저사이트
After that, the players will return to their national teams for a short period of time, but they have a tough schedule ahead of them, starting with the Asian Championships in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, in September, followed by a trip to Poland for the final qualifiers for the Paris Olympics, and then the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The Asian Championships and the Olympic Qualifiers are especially important as they count towards the FIVB rankings.
The main question is whether the team will be able to improve its ranking, which has fallen to 33rd place, and develop a long-term plan to get back on track.