(Asiad) Volleyball coach hopes opening match serves as wake-up call

KOMAKI, Japan, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea survived a brief scare before emerging with a straight-set victory over Hong Kong in its first women's volleyball match at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in central Japan on Wednesday, a result that left head coach Cha Sang-hyun scratching his head.

South Korea beat Hong Kong 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-12) in Pool D action at Park Arena Komaki in Komaki, just north of the main host city of Nagoya. Hong Kong made things a bit interesting in the first set, with the favored South Koreans struggling to put their opponent away.

Cha blamed the wobbly opening half on some jitters, noting that South Korea did lose the first set against Hong Kong at the Asian Volleyball Confederation Women's Volleyball Continental Championship just last month.

"I did see that the players were nervous. I am sure it comes from the magnitude of this competition," Cha said. "Basically, Hong Kong's players showed confidence in their ability to defend, and they are a well-organized team. I think they were able to put some pressure on our players early on."

Although South Korea won the next two sets by the identical scores of 25-12, Cha said he was not entirely pleased with the process.

"Well, coaches are never completely satisfied," Cha said with a smile. "There are some things that I will go over with the players. We had a few chances midway through the match where we could have made life much easier for ourselves, but we failed to capitalize on them. I hope this match will serve as a wake-up call for us as we prepare for our next matches."

One thing that did please Cha was the play of captain Kang So-hwi. The outside hitter led all players with 14 points, while battling through a left thigh injury.

"She has been in a tough spot, but she is recovering," Cha said. "It was a good first match for her."

South Korea's next match is back in Komaki against Qatar at 1 p.m. Thursday. They are considered the weakest link in the group, and Vietnam, expected to battle South Korea for the top seed in Pool D, dispatched Qatar in just 49 minutes earlier Wednesday.

South Korea will play three matches in three days in the preliminary round, with Vietnam coming up on Friday. Cha said it was "a bit fortunate" that the middle match will be against the heavy underdog, which will allow him to rest his key players for the Vietnam match.

And with the top two teams from each of the four groups advancing to the quarterfinals, Cha's goal is to hold off Vietnam to win Pool D and avoid facing the winner of Pool B in the quarterfinals, likely the mighty China.

"If we don't beat Vietnam, then we will put ourselves in a difficult spot in the knockout stage," Cha said. "Well before we got here, we have been focusing on beating Vietnam."