'Little Kim Yeon-koung' Son Seo-yeon fought hard with 24 points, but the U-17 women's team suffered a 1-3 comeback loss to Turkey, missing out on a spot in the World Championship semifinals.

*This content was translated by AI.

The South Korean U-17 Yeo Ja-bae-gu (CEO) team failed to overcome Turkey and missed advancing to the semifinals of the World Championship.

Led by coach Lee Seung-yeo, South Korea lost to Turkey 1-3 (25-21, 25-27, 22-25, 17-25) in the quarterfinals of the 2026 FIVB U-17 Women's Volleyball World Championship held at the National Sports Stadium in Santiago, Chile, on the 15th (Korean time). The team's winning streak of six consecutive victories from the group stage ended sadly in the quarterfinals.

South Korea took early control of the match. With Son Seo-yeon's attacks and opponent errors contributing to a growing point gap, South Korea won the first set 25-21 and seized the momentum.

However, Turkey launched a counterattack starting from the second set. Although South Korea held the lead until mid-second set, consecutive errors in the latter half led to a tense deuce battle, which they ultimately lost 25-27. In the decisive third set, despite trailing 15-20 and fighting back to 22-23, a controversial out call at set point resulted in a 22-25 loss. Having lost momentum, South Korea also surrendered the fourth set early with heavy scoring errors, losing 17-25 after their reception was severely disrupted, ultimately ending the match.

Top scorer Son Seo-yeon delivered an outstanding performance with a team-high 24 points. Middle blockers Choi Min-ju (9 points), Lee Da-yeon, and Eo Min-seo (8 points each) also fought hard but could not prevent the team's defeat.

The decisive factor was the height disadvantage. South Korea was overwhelmingly outmatched by Turkey in block points, losing 4-21.

With their semifinal hopes dashed, the South Korean national team will face Thailand in a ranking match at 3 a.m. on the 16th.

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*This content was translated by AI.