[Official] 'Cha Sang-hyun's Team' women's volleyball to face Japan, Vietnam and others... Asian Championship group determines Olympic qualification

*This content was translated by AI.

The Republic of Korea Yeo Ja-bae-gu (CEO) team (world ranking 30th) has been drawn into a group with Japan (6th), Vietnam (28th), and others at the 2026 Asian Championship.

Under head coach Cha Sang-hyun, South Korea was assigned to Group C along with Japan, Vietnam, and Hong Kong (108th) during the group stage draw held on the 28th (Korea time) in Tianjin, China. This means South Korea will face Japan and Vietnam, both ranked higher than them globally, starting from the group stage.

The tournament, scheduled to take place in Tianjin from the 21st to the 30th of next month, will feature 12 Asian teams divided into three groups for the group stage. The top two teams from each group and the two best third-placed teams among the three groups will advance to the quarterfinals to determine the champion.

The tournament winner will qualify directly for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, while the top three teams will compete in next year's FIVB Women's Volleyball World Cup.

South Korea's women's volleyball team reached the semifinals of this championship for 20 consecutive tournaments from its inaugural edition in 1975 through the 2019 tournament. However, under coach Cesar Hernandez Gonzalez in 2023, they failed to reach the semifinals for the first time and finished sixth.

At that time, South Korea was eliminated by Vietnam in the preliminary round, advanced to the quarterfinals as the second-place team in Group C, then suffered a decisive loss to Thailand in the quarterfinals, dropping to the 5th-8th place match. They later defeated India to reach the fifth-place playoff but lost to Kazakhstan and finished sixth.

Group A includes host China (world ranking 7th), Taiwan (38th), Iran (42nd), and Iraq (no ranking). Group B consists of Thailand (17th), Kazakhstan (39th), Indonesia (60th), and Australia (90th).

South Korea's women's volleyball team ranks fifth in Asia, behind Japan, China, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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*This content was translated by AI.