‘Invitational team’ Japan’s Panasonic wins third straight Cup, beats Samsung Fire, advances to semifinals as group leader
Japan’s Panasonic Panthers, 토토사이트 an invitational team, defeated Samsung Fire to finish the group stage of the 2023 Gumi Dodram Cup Professional Volleyball Competition (KOVO Cup) with three straight wins.
Panasonic defeated Samsung Fire in straight sets, 3-2 (25-17 25-19 28-30 23-25 15-13), in the third match of the men’s Group B preliminary round at the Gumi Park Jung-hee Gymnasium in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, on Nov. 11.
Panasonic, who topped Group B with three wins, will play Group A runner-up OK Financial Group at 4 p.m. on Wednesday for a spot in the finals.
Takahiko Imamura led the way with 19 points. Keitaro Nishikawa chipped in with 15 points.
Meanwhile, Samsung Chemicals, which lost the Group 1 championship game, advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 record and second place in Group B. They will meet Group A champion Korean Air in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Park Sung-jin led the way with 22 points and Shin Shin-ho had 20, but a lack of late-game heart cost them the game.
After winning the first and second sets in straight sets, Panasonic was on the verge of a shutout victory in the third set, 24-22, but could not withstand Samsung Fire’s onslaught and dropped the third set after conceding a deuce.
Panasonic seemed to panic and dropped the fourth set to Samsung Fire to level the set at 2-2.
However, in the fifth set, Panasonic showed a strong focus. With the score tied at 13-13, they scored two consecutive points to win the match.
Meanwhile, in the earlier Group B match between Hyundai Capital and KEPCO, Hyundai Capital won the set 3-1 (25-20 18-25 25-22 25-22).
Already out of the semifinals with two straight losses, 스포츠토토 Hyundai Capital finished third in Group A with a 1-2 record.
Lee Seung-jun led the offense with 28 points, followed by Kim Sun-ho with 13 points.
KEPCO, on the other hand, ended the tournament without a win after losing all three games.
KEPCO’s Lee Tae-ho led the way with 31 points, but the team lacked options to back him up.
Hyundai Capital focused on the third set, which was tied 1-1. With the score tied at 22-22, they took the lead with a kill by Jung Tae-joon, followed by an effective block by Kim Sun-ho, a successful defense and an attack by Lee Seung-jun.
At 24-22, Ham Hyung-jin’s dig and Lee Seung-jun’s hard hit ended it.
The fourth set was a similar story. Once again, the score was tied at 22-22, but this time, 스포츠토토맨 Jung Tae-joon and Ham Hyung-jin got back-to-back blocks to gain momentum and eventually win the set.