2006 World Championships
Korea win play-off to join Australia in final round (FIVB)
07/03/2005
Chennai, India, July 3, 2005 – Pre-tournament favourites
Korea, ranked 10th in the world, found the going tougher
than expected but finally claimed a ticket to the final
round of the 2006 Men’s World Championship after beating
hosts India 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12) to
win the Asian playoff tournament on Sunday.
Korea, Australia and India, who all finished second in
their respective Asian second round tournaments last
month, had a second chance to continue their 2006 World
Championship dream in the way of the three-team playoff
for two final round tickets.
After beating Australia 3-1 (25-22, 27-29, 25-16, 27-25)
on Friday, Korea just needed to win one set against
India to secure their place as one of the top two
finishers in the tournament, which offered a ticket to
the final round. Pic: Korea with the spoils after winning two from two With world number 22 Australia already confirmed in the
top two after they beat India 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-17)
on Saturday, a straights win to the hosts was the only
way India would be able to finish ahead of Korea in
second place.
And from the first set India, ranked 26th in the world,
made the best of starts by going 1-0 up, however, once
Korea opened a five-point lead in the second set, the
curtains on India’s World Championship hopes were
starting to be drawn.
Korea and Australia join Kazakhstan, China and Iran (Asian
third round winners), Argentina (South America first
round winner), Egypt (Africa second round winner), Japan
(hosts) and Brazil (defending champions) as the number
of teams confirmed in the 2006 Men’s World Championship
final round moves to nine.
The next 2006 Men’s World Championship tournament is a
European third round event from July 15-17 in Rzeszow,
Poland where the hosts, Russia, Bulgaria and Estonia
will play for two tickets to the final round, with the
third placed team heading into a playoff.
Chennai, India, July 3, 2005 – Pre-tournament favourites
Korea, ranked 10th in the world, found the going tougher
than expected but finally claimed a ticket to the final
round of the 2006 Men’s World Championship after beating
hosts India 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12) to
win the Asian playoff tournament on Sunday.