17-Nov, start time: 12:35, end time: 13:48 - Attendance: 2,030

TUN	0	19	20	26	-	-	65
KOR	3	25	25	28	-	-	78

Match Description:

Korea Secure First Win
Asian champions Korea secured their first victory of the 2003 men's World Cup of Volleyball when they downed their African counterparts Tunisia 3-0 in their second match at Site B in Nagano.

With Chang Byung-Chul in outstanding form, Korea secured a 25-19, 25-20, 28-26 triumph as Tunisia failed to cope with the speed and athletic defense of their opponents. Korea's victory follows their 3-0 loss to Brazil in their opening World Cup tie, while Tunisia now have two defeats after their 3-0 defeat by Italy.

Left-hander Chang was Korea's most effective weapon from the outset and three powerful spikes mid-way through the opening set helped the Asians to a 13-8 lead which they built on to take set point at 24-16. Tunisia made the score-line more respectable by saving three set points but the Koreans never looked like dropping the opening game.

Tunisia adapted to the pace of the Korean game in the second set, and led by the offense of Khaled Belaid and blocking of Hosni Karamosly kept Korea within their sights. But three consecutive errors from Tunisia, followed by a bomb from MIP Yoon Kwan-Yeol, who was growing in confidence as the match progressed, was enough to give Korea a two-set lead.

At 18-15 up in the third, the North Africans looked like they may pull a set back. But they then conceded seven straight points, and although they bravely saved four match points, Korea secured the match with a pair of spikes from Chang.

Comments:

"It was a crucial game for us - we had to win it if we want to achieve our goal in this World Cup. Because we lost yesterday it was a must-win game. We were well-prepared and the victory has created a very good atmosphere amongst the team. Tunisia's number 13 (Noureddine Hfaiedh) and 15 (Ghazi Guidara) are two very good players now playing in Europe, so it was a difficult game for us to win."
CHA JOO-HYUN
Head coach, Korea

"For us to do well in this World Cup we had to win this game. Our opponents did not exert as much pressure on us as perhaps they hoped to. But it was a very important win for us. The mood in the team is now very good and we will be able to carry this into the next match."
CHOI TAE-WOONG
Captain, Korea

"We made too many mistakes, especially with our service. We gave them too many opportunities and when we did serve badly we failed to make any blocks. When it was 18-15 to us in the third set we then made two more service errors. Perhaps we had a chance to close out the third set but at the end two pieces of luck went against us. But Korea are a very good team and it was not a major mistake to lose to them."
ANTONIO GIACOBBE
Head coach, Tunisia

"We lost today because we made more mistakes than Korea. We had a few chances to move into a lead, especially in the third set, but again we let ourselves down with mistakes. We must try to improve in our minds for the next match."
GHAZI GUIDARA
Captain, Tunisia

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF