sportstotolink   Album Posted Oct.11th, 2023, viewed 140 times

V-League kicks off on Thursday amid 'AG's gold medal' crisis in men's and women's volleyball

Introducing the A-Quarter, Replacing Phrases, and More
'Big changes' for 20th season
Foreign Captains to Face Off Against Each Other

Korean volleyball had its worst performance ever at the Hangzhou Asian Games. The women's team finished fifth and the men's team seventh. This is the first time that the men's and women's national volleyball teams have failed to win a medal at the Asian Games.

In the midst of this crisis, the V-League is entering its 20th season. Starting with the men's match between Korean Air and Hyundai Capital and the women's match between Korea Expressway Corporation and Heungkuk Life on March 14, the league will continue its 155-day regular season schedule until March 17 next year.

The Korean Volleyball Organization (KOVO) has made some big changes for its 20th anniversary. Chief among them is the introduction of the Asian quota. Starting this season, each team will have one additional player from an Asian country in addition to the existing one foreign player. The purpose of the Asian quota is to solve the difficulty of player supply and demand and to curb the salary increase rate of domestic players.

In particular, the 'Thai trio' of Ponpun (30), who wore the jersey of IBK as the first pick in the women's Asian Quarter Draft, Hyundai E&C's Wipawee (24), and Korea Expressway Corporation's Tanacha (23) are expected to perform well. Thailand won the top spot at the Asian Championships last month and also won a bronze medal at the Asian Games. Mega (24-Indonesia), who changed her name from KGC Ginseng, will be the first player in V-League history to play in a hijab.

On the men's side, Samsung Fire's Eddie (24) and OK Financial Group's Bayarsaihan (25) will be in the spotlight. Both players are from Mongolia and joined the V-League through the Asian Quarterfinals after playing at the domestic university level. Eddie joined Sungkyunkwan University and worked with head coach Kim Sang-woo (50) at the professional level.

They also switched balls. KOVO decided to play with the V200W, made by Japan's Mikasa, instead of the Grand Champion, made by Korea's Starsport, in order to be more competitive internationally. The V200W is the ball used in FIVB-organized competitions such as the Volleyball Nations League (VNL). The ball has already made its Korean debut at the Kumidodram Cup tournament in July and August. GS Caltex libero Handa Hye (28), a member of the women's team, said, "The Mikasa ball feels a bit more wobbly. It's harder to judge where the ball will land when receiving."

The number of foreign coaches has also changed. Until last season, the only foreign coaches were Tommi Tilikainen (36-Finland) of Korean Air in the men's game and Marcello Avondanza (53-Italy) of Heungkuk Life in the women's game. In the new season, both the men's and women's leagues will have two foreign coaches, with Masashi Ogino (53-Japan) joining OK Financial Group in the men's league and Joe Trinzi (36-USA) joining Pepper Savings Bank in the women's league.

This will also mark the first head-to-head matchup between foreign managers in V-League history. The game between Heungkuk Life and Pepper Savings Bank in Incheon on Nov. 22 will be the first foreign head-to-head matchup in the V-League since its inception. On the men's side, Korean Air and OK Financial Group will meet on March 7, also in Incheon. 스포츠토토링크