Postseason playoffs still anyone's game in red-hot V League

Volleyball

Published: 23 Jan. 2024, 13:10

Postseason playoffs still anyone's game in red-hot V League

Seoul Woori Card Woori Won players [SEOUL WOORI CARD WOORI WON]

The race in the 2023-24 men’s V League remains extremely competitive, with only seven points separating league leaders Seoul Woori Card Woori Won and fifth-place Suwon Kepco Vixtorm on the seven-team table.

The season has passed its halfway mark, but it is still unclear which teams will make it to the postseason, where the top three or four teams compete to win the championship.

The postseason consists of playoffs — between the league runners-up and the third-place team — before the final championship. But depending on the point gap between the third- and fourth-place teams, the postseason could begin with so-called “semi-playoffs,” in which the two sides compete to reach the playoffs. The winner of the playoffs would get to face the league leaders in the championship.

Woori Won are the league leaders with 44 points as of Tuesday, but they are only one point above second-place Incheon Korean Air Jumbos.

It's the same story in the middle of the table. Third-place Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs have 40 points, just one point above fourth-place Ansan OK Financial Group Okman.

The race to the semi-playoffs are even more competitive as fifth-place Vixtorm are catching up, with 37 points.

Vixtorm’s position does not looks secure, however, as sixth-place Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers have 32 points.

The only team that does not seem as a strong title contender is last-place Uijeongbu KB Insurance Stars, with 17 points.

This season is a stark contrast to the past three seasons that have seen the Jumbos’ dominance. The Incheon side could not be matched as it swept both the league and championship titles for the past three seasons.

If Woori Won win the league this season, it will not only end the Jumbos’ dominance, but it will be the capital side's first-ever league victory.

Woori Won did not technically win the league in the 2019-20 season, as it was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alongside Woori Won, fourth-place Okman have also yet to win a league title. The Ansan side has proved itself as a strong contender this season, however, winning the Korea Volleyball Federation Cup — a preseason tournament in which teams test out their squad ahead of a regular season — for the very first time in August last year.

Ansan OK Financial Group Okman players celebrate during a V League game against Seoul Woori Card Woori Won at Jangchung Arena in central Seoul on Jan. 10. [KOVO]

For the Bluefangs, a win would mark their first title since the 2014-15 season, the end of their glory days.

Just like the Jumbos who have swept both the league and championship titles for three straight seasons, the Bluefangs achieved the same feat from the 2011-12 season to the 2013-14 season.

The Bluefangs won the league again in the 2014-15 campaign, but missed the championship title.

Which team will claim coveted league victory at the end of the regular season remains to be seen.

Until then, the teams will continue to be in league action until March.

The V League will restart after the all-star game — featuring 40 players picked by the fan vote and a committee of experts — scheduled on Saturday, with defending champions Jumbos facing the Skywalkers at home on Jan. 30.

League leaders Woori Won will then face the Bluefangs the following day at Jangchung Arena in central Seoul.

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