Korea stun Dutch with emphatic 3-0 win in Tokyo

Korea has bounced back from the disappointment of an opening day loss to Italy by posting a shock 3-0 (29-27, 25-23, 25-21) win against The Netherlands at the Olympic qualifiers in Tokyo.

It wasn’t that the Koreans won that shocked, it was the 3-0 scoreline against a team who is considered one of the favourites to earn a ticket to Rio this week.

By every measure the opening set was a barn burner. Brilliant serving, blocking, digging, setting and pulsating rallies that kept the large crowd on the edge of their seats.

Of course the beating heart of the Korean playbook revolves around 28-year-old Korean captain, Kim Yeon-Koung, and in the opening set she was asked to do a power of work.

It was her serve mainly that was causing problems for the Dutch, with four aces making life difficult for the Europeans, but The Netherlands were doing a good job of blocking and digging her ferocious spikes.

Korea took the opening set 29-27, after being down 2-5 early. But the Yeon-Koung serve …

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