Foreign players carrying the fate of their teams, who did well and who didn’t.
Sports Chosun’s Dodram 2023-2024 V League wraps up the first half of the season, and this time it’s the turn of foreign players.
Due to the nature of the V-League, the influence of foreign players is absolute. All positions, male and female, are filled by foreign players, especially the apogee spiker, who leads the offense. How many hits they deliver and how many points they score can make or break a season.
Here’s which teams cried and laughed over their foreign players in the first half.
First, the men’s team. From the start of the season, Samsung Fire’s Yosubani was the player who caught the most attention. 토토사이트 He led the Samsung Fire surge with his overwhelming offense. He finished the first half with a total of 713 points. That’s a lot considering the second-place KB Insurance’s Bjorna has 624 points.
With Yosubani’s performance, Samsung Fire overturned a lowly rating and fought for the lead. However, Yosubani’s form has been a little off lately, and Samsung Fire has lost some momentum. However, his performance in the first half was very impressive.
As Yosubani faltered, up-and-comers began to emerge. First up was OK Financial Group’s “veteran” Leo. He was outclassed by the younger players in terms of power at the beginning of the season, but he picked up his form in the second half, showing off his versatile offensive abilities. Coach Ogino, who had avoided playing “bread-and-butter volleyball” with Leo, increased his reliance on him as the team’s performance slipped, and the strategy paid off as Pajuk ended the first half with six straight wins.
Korean Air, looking to win their fourth straight league title, faced turbulence with Lincoln’s injury.
Head coach Tommi Tilikainen put his faith in homegrown apogee Im Dong-hyuk, but the team’s performance continued to decline. Korean Air was forced to bring in Murad as a temporary replacement. Tilikainen was initially reluctant to bring in Murad, saying he didn’t fit their style of volleyball. However, Murad, who seized the opportunity while Lim Dong-hyuk was struggling, has been writing the drama. On the 12th, he ‘exploded’ with 52 points against Hyundai Capital. While Woori Card slumped to a five-game losing streak, Korean Air swept the last two games of the first half with Murad to reignite the race for the top spot. At this rate, even if Lincoln bounces back, he’s in danger of losing his spot to Murad.
On the women’s side, GS Caltex Silva stood out with their men’s power.
However, the team finished in third place.
Leaders Hyundai E&C and second-place Heungkuk Life don’t have the benefit of foreign players. Hyundai E&C’s Moma is only fifth in total points. Heungkuk Life’s Yelena has already been sent off for tackling. However, both teams are able to stay in the top half of the standings because of their foreign ace players in Yang Hyo-jin (Hyundai E&C) and Kim Yeon-kyung (Heungkuk Life).
The key to watching in the second half will be whether the favorites, Heungkuk Life, can turn things around with Willow, who replaced Yelena.
Willow is the daughter of Randy Johnson, 사설 토토사이트 a legendary hard-throwing left-handed pitcher in the American Major League Baseball. If Willow can take some of the pressure off Kim Yeon-kyung, the race for second place between Heungkuk Life and Hyundai E&C could become even more interesting.