Hyundai Capital, which had a lot of ups and downs, saved the semi-PO of volleyball

Final match against OK Financial Group on the 15th… If I win, I hope to play spring volleyball

Hyundai Capital in the men's professional volleyball V-League has revived its hope to advance to the postseason. It is noteworthy whether Hyundai Capital, which has suffered ups and downs such as a decline in performance and replacement of the coach, will advance to spring volleyball and cause an upset.

Hyundai Capital won the set score 3-1 17-25 25-20 25-18 25-17 against Woori Card in the "Dodram 2023-2024 V-League" home game held at Cheonan Yu Gwan-soon Gymnasium on the 12th.

Hyundai Capital, which has 17 wins, 18 losses and 53 points, has narrowed the gap with third-ranked OK Financial Group 20 wins, 15 losses, 57 points to four points. In the V-League, if the gap between third and fourth-ranked teams is less than three points, a semi-playoff will take place.

Coincidentally, Hyundai Capital's last opponent in the regular league is OK Financial Group. If Hyundai Capital wins the game at home on the 15th, it will narrow the gap to one point and advance to the semi-playoff.

Hyundai Capital's advance to the semi-playoffs was unexpected. Early in the season, Hyundai Capital lost five consecutive games in October and six consecutive games from mid-November to early December, falling to the sixth place among the seven teams in the league.

Consequently, the club dismissed Choi on Dec. 21 last year. Choi, who won two championship matches and two top-ranked teams in the regular season during the nine seasons since taking the helm in April 2015, stepped down, and Jin Soon-ki, the team's assistant coach, took over as acting coach.

Since Choi's replacement, Hyundai Capital has changed dramatically. After Choi left the team, he asked for a five-game winning streak to elevate his ranking.

Still, advancing to volleyball in the spring did not seem easy. Though he jumped to the mid-ranking, many predicted that he would not be able to advance to the post season due to lost points due to consecutive losses in the early part of the season.

On the 7th of last month, the club appointed French coach Philippe Blanc, who is in charge of the Japanese men's national team, as the new head coach to lead the team from the 2024-2025 season, sparking speculation that he may be preparing for next season early.

Still, Hyundai Capital did not give up. After beating Korea Electric Power Corp. in the first game of the last six rounds, Hyundai Capital lost to Korean Air, but beat KB Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance in succession. It then sank Woori Card on Wednesday, which was aiming to rank No. 1 in the regular league.

Attention is focusing on whether Hyundai Capital, which had a lot of ups and downs this season, will be able to play in spring volleyball dramatically after winning the match against OK Financial Group on the 15th.  스포츠토토티비