Lausanne, Switzerland, May 26, 2016 – After losing to Japan in the bronze-medal match at the 2012 London Olympics, Korea coach Kim Hyung Sil said: “In Kim Yeon Koung, we have one of the world’s best players. She has brought Korean volleyball to the next level.”
This year, the Koreans will be able to prove or disprove their former coach’s assertion and hopefully erase the bitter taste of Olympic defeat to their archrivals Japan.
Japan and Olympic volleyball are intertwined. Women’s volleyball made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and Japan won the gold medal there, before doubling up on their gold medal in 1976. Korea also appeared in the Tokyo Olympics but has won only one Olympic volleyball medal, a bronze in 1976 in Montreal where, of course, they were overshadowed by Japan again.
So the loss to Japan in 2012 was a particularly bitter pill to swallow. The report on the bronze-medal match stated: “Korea lacked that killing instinct.” Maybe the truth was that they lacked enough players with the “killing instinct,” for the irony was that the tournament’s MVP was opposite Kim Yeon Koung. Kim is now recognised as one of the world’s top players.
“I think Kim Yeon Koung is the best player in the world; I have not seen anyone like her in the last 30 years,” Netherlands coach Giovanni Guidetti has said. As well as being the MVP in the Olympics, Kim has been MVP in the Korean V-League, the Japanese V. League, the Turkish League and the CEV Champions League. Nobody doubts her talent – although some have questioned her temperament at times – but playing for Korea, the 28-year-old has often been short of support.
However, since the defeat to Japan in London, the Koreans have had a solid track record. They won the Asian Games title in 2014 and were runners-up in the Asian Championship in 2015. They finished sixth in last year’s FIVB World Cup. In the hotly contested Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tokyo, they surprised the high-flying Dutch 3-0 and triumphed over rivals Japan 3-1.
While Kim is still dominating the scoring, coach Lee Jung Chul has nurtured a good supporting cast in Yang Hyo Jin, Park Jeong Ah and especially Kim Hee Jin. Kim Yeon Koung is not only a great scorer for the team, she’s now also a great decoy for her teammates.
Like Japan, Korea would love to emulate the success of earlier times. For a decade beginning in the late 1960s, Korea were a force to be reckoned with in any tournament. They lost in the semifinals at the Munich 1972 Olympic Games, eventually finishing fourth, before taking the bronze medal in Montreal. They won bronze medals at the 1967 and 1974 World Championships, and were third in the 1973 and 1977 World Cups. If Kim Yeon Koung can find her Olympic MVP form again this year, there’s no telling what they can do.