Led by head coach Cesar Hernández González, the Korean team (ranked 29th in the world) lost to Kazakhstan (ranked 39th) in straight sets 0-3 (24-26 23-25 23-25) in the fifth place match of the 2023 Asian Volleyball Championship at the MCC Hall in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand on Saturday.At the tournament, Korea struggled to finish second in Group C after being swept by Vietnam (40th) in the preliminary round and fell to Thailand (14th) in the quarterfinals.They beat India to move into the fifth place match, but lost their final game to finish in sixth place.South Korea has reached the quarterfinals 20 times since its first appearance at the Asian Championships in 1975. While they’ve never won the title, they’ve kept their pride alive with seven runner-up finishes, 10 third-place finishes, and three fourth-place finishes.This time, however, they only managed to finish sixth, a harsh reminder that even the Asian quarters are far from certain.The Korean women’s team will return home on July 7 to rest and recuperate before traveling to Poland for the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification (July 16-24).In Group C, Korea will face the United States (2nd), Italy (6th), Poland (7th), Germany (13th), Thailand, Colombia (20th), and Slovenia (25th). A top-two finish in Group C will qualify them for Paris, but realistically, they can’t count on even one win.After the women’s team finishes qualifying for Paris, they will travel to China to prepare for the Hangzhou Asian Games.Hosts Thailand defeated China 3-2 (25-20 25-27 25-19 20-25 16-14) in the final to return to the 온라인카지노 top spot after a 10-year absence since 2013.