Korean Air’s quest for a fourth consecutive regular season title is in jeopardy. They were swept in the 1-2 matchup, making it impossible for them to win the title on their own. The disappointment was compounded by a controversial call midway through the game.
Korean Air lost the Dodram 2023-24 V-League Men’s match against Woori Card 0-3 (21-25 25-27 23-25) at the Gyeyang Gymnasium in Incheon on June 6.
Korean Air, with 22 wins and 12 losses (67 points), remained in first place, one point ahead of Woori Card (22 wins and 11 losses – 66 points), but with two matches remaining, they will not be able to win the title on their own.
The most disappointing moment of the day for Korean Air was the second set. Despite being shaken by Song Myung-geun’s serve, Korean Air turned the match around with the help of Lim Dong-hyuk and Jeong Ji-seok, and reached set point at 24-23.
After a long rally, Woori Card’s Lee Sang-hyun scored a point, prompting Korean Air coach Tommy to request a video review. The review showed that Woori Card’s Issei Otake had made ‘double contact’.
The slowed-down replay showed Issei making a diving dive and then getting hit in the head. Korean Air’s home fans were convinced that it was a double contact and cheered.
However, the referee ruled that it was not a double contact. The referee ruled that “two touches” in a single move that are unintentional are not considered double contact.
Korean Air appealed, arguing that not only Issei but also Artem Susheko made double contact, but the call was not changed.
Korean Air ultimately lost the set 25-27 and the match in three sets, suffering a ‘shutout’ loss.
After the match, Tommy opened up about the incident, saying: “To me, it looks like it was two hits, but the referee read it as ‘one action’. So that’s probably right,” he 토토 said.
As for Artem’s subsequent ‘double contact’, he said: “I asked for a review on Issei. The referee said he didn’t see Artem’s situation,” he says.
However, Tommy made it clear that he was not going to dwell on the situation.
“I don’t have any complaints or protests against the referee’s call,” he said, “I think he made the call according to the rules.”
He was disappointed with the outcome of the match. “They played better than us today,” he said, “We had our chances, but we didn’t take them by millimeters. I think that’s how it is in sports,” he said.
“It’s hard to accept this result, but today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow, we will fight until the end and we will never give up,” he said, adding that he still hopes to win the title.