At first glance, it may seem like an insignificant match, but in fact it could be the first leg of the upper round to be played in advance.
On the 16th at Isa Sports City, Korean Air will play Jakarta Bayangkara (Indonesia) and the 2023 Asian Volleyball Federation (AVC) Men’s Club Volleyball Championship Group A qualifier. Korean Air, which won both previous matches by shutout, has already confirmed its advancement to the top round with 6 points. Therefore, this match is a match that decides whether to advance to the 1st place or 2nd place in the group.
As advances to the top round have already been confirmed, it can be seen that it is only natural for Korean Air to operate an active rotation to digest the tight tournament schedule. In fact, after this game, Korean Air takes a day off on the 17th and plays another game right away.
Also, the fact that the top round of this tournament is not a typical tournament format can be a basis for starting the rotation. The 1st and 2nd placed teams in Group A, to which Korean Air belongs, will play against the 1st and 2nd placed teams in Group C. In the upper round of this tournament, a total of 4 teams that placed 1st and 2nd in Groups A and C will be placed in Group E again for another group round. It is a structure that goes through The 1st and 2nd place teams in Groups B and D will also be grouped again into Group F and play a group round.
In other words, it is not a structure that can avoid first place in the opponent group just because it is ranked first in the group. Currently, Suntory Sunbirds (Japan), who have secured 6 points, is in first place in Group C, but even if Korean Air takes first place in Group A, they will have to play against Suntory. If you look at it like this, it doesn’t mean much whether you finish first or second in the group, so it’s reasonable to think that it’s better to start the rotation.
However, there is one important rule in this higher round method. It means that teams from the same group will not face each other again in the upper round, but instead, the group stage opponents will be reflected in the upper round. For example, if Korean Air goes through the group stage with Al-Ahli (Bahrain), the record of beating Al-Ahli 3-0 will be reflected in Group E of the upper round, and they can face the upper round with one win. .
To sum up, what is more important than whether the group is ranked 1st or 2nd is the opponent record between the teams ranked 1st and 2nd in the group. Even if you advance to the top round as the first place in your group, losing to the second place team in your group and taking first place means nothing. This is because in the upper rounds, you just start with 1 loss.
안전놀이터 Once you know this regulation, you can see that you can’t just play the Jakarta game comfortably. The current status of wins and losses in Group A is Korean Air 2 wins 6 points – Jakarta 1 win 1 loss 4 points – Al Ahli 1 win 1 loss 2 points – Canberra Heat (Australia) 2 losses 0 points. If Jakarta wins the Korean Air match and earns two or more points, advancing to the upper round is confirmed.
The problem is that when this happens, Korean Air has to go to the top round with the one loss it suffered against Jakarta, whether it finishes first or second in the group. If this happens, the pressure for the match against Group C teams will increase significantly. Therefore, Korean Air must beat Jakarta to go to the top round comfortably. First of all, as long as Jakarta is defeated, even if Jakarta takes second place or Al-Ahli, they can head to the upper round with one win.
In the end, this match is not an easy one as you have to create results and at the same time arrange the physical strength of the players. What kind of tactics will director Tommy Tilikhainen use to catch the two rabbits?