‘Strange volleyball’, which the veteran setter is confident of, is just the beginning
“You can do it indefinitely.”
Strange play created by position destruction. Korean Air setter Yoo Kwang-woo, who had 10 players participated but was holding the results and process at the same time, said with a funny smile.
Korean Air, led by head coach Tommy Tilikainen, participated in the 2023 Gumi-Dodram Cup professional volleyball tournament because seven players were missing due to the selection of national and A national teams by age group. Except for veteran setters Yoo Kwang-woo and Han Sun-sun, outside hitters Kwak Seung-seok, Libero Oh Eun-ryul and Jung Sung-min, they are not seen as starters, but they are attracting attention with strange and interesting volleyball.
a two-game winning streak. Korean Air is cruising after beating Woori Card (3-0 win) and OK Financial Group (3-2 win) in the first round of the preliminary round. We have one game left in the group stage, but we advanced to the semifinals early on.
In fact, it is an unexpected result. Even veteran setter Yoo Kwang-woo focused on “enjoying volleyball” rather than performance, saying, “I came with the intention of doing it comfortably,” but he is holding the results and process at the same time.
It started with ‘position destruction’. For Korean Air, Lim Dong-hyuk was called up to the A national team. In a situation where there was no orthodox apposite spiker in the team, middle blocker Jin Ji-wi filled the spot. Setter Jeong Jin-hyeok is also participating in the attack as a substitute. As a result, there are often scenes with two setters in the court.
Emphasis is placed on colorful set plays. Korean Air is a team whose strength is originally in various pattern plays, but in this tournament, there are plays that are not easily seen in the league. In addition to Lee Joon’s time delay attack, who is active as the main outside hitter, Jin Ji-wi, who played as an aposite player, and Lee Soo-hwang, a middle blocker, are in the avant-garde at the same time, launching A and B fast attacks together. It was a strange play created by position destruction.
Yoo Kwang-woo said, “I’ve been playing for a long time, but (this tournament) feels really special. If there is an apositive, you can do it as it is, but if you do that in the current situation, you have no choice but to dissuade the opponent. In order to somehow find a gap, not only the coaching staff but also the players are making it while wrapping their heads.”
When asked if there were any more plays to show in the future, he was confident that he could make them infinitely. He said, “Director Tommy makes it that way, and when he gives an idea, the players make changes and share it. The whole team is making it, not just one person’s idea.”
Director Tommy also said, “Volleyball is not fixed,” and “If someone dreams of becoming a volleyball player after seeing our volleyball, that is victory. If many people enjoy watching our volleyball, it’s a really happy part,” he smiled.
There is no turning back once you have come this far. Yoo Kwang-woo said, “As I scored, I became greedy. It feels good when the things I prepared during the off-season came out. There are few people available, but I want to go as far as I can. I want to push it to the end while showing the fun volleyball we can play.”
WEBSITE: 안전놀이터