Korea begin Volleyball Nations League campaign against Turkey today

The Korean women's national volleyball team poses for a photo at Incheon International Airport in Incheon on May 22 before their departure to Turkey. [NEWS1]

Korea’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) journey begins on Wednesday in Turkey with their first game against the tournament hosts.

The VNL is an annual tournament in which 16 countries compete over a period of three weeks — the first week running from May 30 to June 4, the second from June 13 to 19 and third through June 27 to July 2.

Korea has to do better this year, not only because they recorded zero wins and 12 losses last year, but because the tournament results will impact the FIVB Volleyball World Ranking, which will determine the countries that compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Among the 12 countries that will participate in the Olympics, five will land in the competition based on the FIVB World Ranking by June 2024, prioritizing continents that do not have qualified teams in the competition.

Six other countries will reach the tournament through qualifiers along with France, who will automatically join as host nation.

Korea, ranked at No. 23, can also participate in the Olympics after going through the qualifiers, but that road will be tough considering they have to beat higher-ranked countries like No. 2 Italy, No. 4 United States, No. 10 Poland, No. 13 Germany, No. 15 Thailand, No. 19 Colombia and No. 25 Slovenia.

Korea displayed a disappointing performance in last year’s VNL with the absence of Kim Yeon-koung and Yang Hyo-jin, who had retired from national duty after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Kim, who is still active in the V League with the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders, will help the side as an adviser this year.

This year’s VNL is also a chance for head coach Cesar Hernandez to redeem himself from the last year’s VNL, when he made his debut with the national team and suffered 12 straight losses.

Korea will first play Turkey on Wednesday at 8 p.m., before facing Canada on Friday, the United States on Saturday and Thailand on Sunday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]