The first participation of a professional men’s team since the launch of the V-League. Korean Air’s journey to the 2023 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship is difficult.
The 2023 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship kicks off on the 14th (local time) in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. Clubs from 16 countries, including Korean Air, participated as representatives of their respective leagues.
There are not many cases in which Korean teams have participated in this tournament, which is celebrating its 23rd year this year. Korean Air is the first professional men’s team to participate since the launch of the V-League in 2005. In the days of unemployment volleyball, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance participated for three consecutive years from 1999 to 2001, and had a good record of runner-up-winner-winner.메이저놀이터
In Korean Air, 3 out of 7 starting players, including setter Han Seon-seon, who is the captain and leads the team’s attack, middle blocker Kim Gyu-min, and apositive spiker Lincoln Williams, do not play. Player Han and Kyu-min Kim do not play for injuries and condition recovery, and Lincoln’s ITC (international transfer agreement) has expired.
On the other hand, some teams hired short-term part-time players for this tournament. It is maximizing power to win. Among the short-term part-time players, there are several players familiar to Korean volleyball fans, drawing attention.
Yosbani Hernandez (Cuba), who was called by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance in the first place in the recently held 2023 men’s foreign player tryout, will play for Bahrain’s Al Ahli in this tournament. Yosbani came to Bahrain to participate in the tournament right after completing the V-League tryout in Turkiye. Al-Ahli of Bahrain and Korean Air will face off in the second match of Group A at 7:00 pm on the 15th.
Mongolia’s Bayar Saihan, who wore the OK Financial Group uniform in fourth place in the Asia Quarter Tryout held at the end of April, also played for Bayankonor (BAYANKHONGOR CROWND GEO), which represented Mongolia. Artur Woodris (Belarus), who played for KB Insurance in the past 2016-2017 season, is also a member of Russia’s Pakel Nov, but will be temporarily hired by ATYRAU VC, who participated as a representative of Kazakhstan, to play.
Daudi Okello (Uganda), who played for Hyundai Capital and KEPCO, will play for Indonesia’s Jakarta Bayankara, his original team, rather than a short-term part-time job. Korean Air and Jakarta will meet in the third and final match of the group stage.
In this event, you can also see athletes with world-renowned reputations run. A representative player is Dmitry Mushalsky (Russia), who plays for Japan’s Suntory Sunbirds. Despite his height of 218cm, he is also equipped with speed. He was considered one of the best middle blockers in the world along with Robert Randy Simon (Cuba), who played for OK Savings Bank in the past.
Since the 2018-2019 season, Mushalski has been playing for Suntory Birds in the Japanese V-League. Mushalski mainly plays as an apposite spiker in the Suntory. Since Muchhalski’s Suntory Birds are in Group C, there is a possibility that they will face off against Korean Air in the quarterfinals or higher.
