South Korea's women's volleyball team, coached by Cha Sang-hyun, is aiming for the top of Asia. The campaign begins with a Group C opener against Vietnam at 11 a.m. Korea time on the 22nd at the Tianjin Olympic Center Gymnasium in China, in the 2026 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship.
Korea's realistic goal is a third-place finish. The tournament winner earns a berth at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, while a top-three finish secures a spot at the 2027 FIVB Women's World Cup. With sixth-ranked Japan and seventh-ranked China fielding their strongest lineups, the title is a tall order.
The 12-team tournament splits into three groups of four for group play. The top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-place finishers, advance to the quarterfinals. After Vietnam, Korea faces Japan at 7:30 p.m. on the 23rd and Hong Kong at 11 a.m. on the 26th.
There is a hurdle to clear from the very first match — Vietnam.
Korea's recent meetings with Vietnam remain a painful memory for the country's women's volleyball program. In the opening match of the 2023 Asian Championship group stage, Korea lost 2-3 to Vietnam after a full five-set battle. At the time, Korea was widely seen as the stronger side on paper, but the unexpected defeat rattled the entire team. Korea was eliminated in the quarterfinal round and finished sixth, its worst-ever result at the event.
The same nightmare repeated not long after at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Against Vietnam, its first opponent, Korea took the first two sets but then dropped the next three in a row for a stunning reversal. Unable to recover from the shock, Korea struggled afterward and finished fifth. It was the country's first Asian Games without a medal in 17 years, since the 2006 Doha Games.
This time, Korea meets that same Vietnam in its opening match — which is why the game means more than a simple bid for revenge. With topping the group ahead of Japan looking difficult, a win over Vietnam is effectively a must for reaching the quarterfinals. To secure second place in the group and carry momentum into the quarterfinals, Korea needs to get off to the right start.
The race for third place is no easy task either. With Japan and China seen as title contenders, teams such as Thailand (17th), Vietnam (32nd), Taiwan (37th) and Kazakhstan (39th) are expected to compete with Korea for a World Cup ticket.
Recent form has been decent. Korea won the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup in June. However, at the recent East Asian Women's Volleyball Championship, Korea lost in the semifinals to a Japan side built around young prospects and finished third.
The players who competed at the East Asian Championship carry over to this tournament. Setters Kim Da-in and Lee Su-yeon, liberos Yoo Ga-ram and Han Da-hye, outside hitters Kang So-hui, Kim Hyo-im, Yuk Seo-young and Lee Ye-rim, opposite spikers Na Hyun-su, Park Eun-seo and Jeong Yun-ju, and middle blockers Park Eun-jin, Lee Da-hyun and Lee Ju-a are among those hunting for a World Cup ticket.
Compared with Korean national teams of years past, this squad is hard to defend against the assessment that it carries less star power and gravitas. But this tournament is also a chance to see just how competitive a new era of Korean women's volleyball can be.
