*This content was translated by AI.
The South Korean U-17 women's Bae Gu (CEO)team defeated Thailand and advanced to the 5th-place match at the World Championship.
Led by coach Lee Seung-yeo, South Korea dominated Thailand with a 3-0 set score (25-19, 25-15, 25-11) in the 5th-to-8th place ranking match of the 'FIVB U-17 World Championship' held on the 16th (Korean time) at the National Stadium Park Court in Santiago, Chile.
On this day, South Korea overwhelmed Thailand on both offense and defense. Not only did they hold a clear advantage in team attack points (43-31), but they also showed significant gaps in blocking (9-1) and serving (4-1), leading the match without dropping a single set.
The undisputed top contributor to the victory was undoubtedly 'ace' Son Seo-yeon (Seonmyeong Girls' High School). Son scored a team-high 19 points, leading the attack. She took full responsibility for all decisive scoring plays that closed out sets, including 24-19 in the first set and 24-15 in the second. Outside hitter Jang Su-in (Gyeongnam Girls' High School), who also played alongside her, added 14 points to bolster the victory.
Notably, Son Seo-yeon recorded 159 total points across all eight matches of this tournament, propelling her to second place in the scoring category. The top scorer, Mondesi of the Dominican Republic (161 points), is just two points behind and has a chance to claim the tournament's scoring title depending on the outcome of the final match.
South Korea went undefeated with five straight wins in Group D of this tournament against Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Italy, the Dominican Republic, and Algeria, then continued their winning streak by defeating the Philippines in the Round of 16. Although they were eliminated from the semifinals after losing to Turkey, who relied on their height advantage, despite taking the first set (losing 2-4 sets consecutively for a 1-3 comeback defeat), this victory immediately turned around their momentum.
Aiming for a successful conclusion, South Korea will face Italy in the final match for the 5th-place position on the 17th at 2 a.m., having previously defeated them during the group stage.
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*This content was translated by AI.
