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Are the Peppers on fire? Gwangju V League club eyes historic 10th win

Published: 18 Feb. 2025, 13:06 Updated: 18 Feb. 2025, 13:09

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

The Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers celebrate during a V League game against the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on Jan. 16. [YONHAP]

An improved Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers are on the verge of recording a historic 10th win in the league as early as Wednesday, but the club will not be able to make history by reaching the V League postseason for the first time as they are out of the playoff race.

The Peppers, who had been perennial bottom-dwellers the past three seasons, have showcased notable improvements this season, having secured nine wins — the most in their history — from their opening 28 games to sit in sixth place on the seven-team table as of Tuesday.

But a postseason spot for the Peppers is out of reach, as the Gwangju club cannot finish high enough to reach the postseason regardless of the results of their remaining games.

The Peppers have to finish in the top three to advance to the playoffs, but they cannot do so as the gap between No. 6 Peppers and current No. 3 Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks, their opponent on Wednesday, is 28 points.

The Red Sparks have 55 points, while the Peppers have 27 points with eight games left to go for both sides.

Even if the Red Sparks drop three points in all remaining eight games and the Peppers add 24 points, the Gwangju club will finish in fourth, four points behind the Red Sparks.

Such a result would not facilitate the so-called semi-playoffs that take place in the event that the point gap between the third and fourth-placed teams is three points or fewer.

Maintaining the No. 6 spot on the table through the end of the 2024-25 season would still secure the Peppers’ highest finish in the V League, where the Gwangju club has always finished in last place since their foundation in 2021.

The sixth-place finish would also mark the Peppers’ transition from the squad that set the record for the longest losing streak in the women’s V League at 21, which they themselves extended to 23 later last season.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]