TOKYO, Nov 23: Asian champions South Korea dealt a heavy blow to regional rivals Japan Friday showing them no mercy in the World Grand Champions Cup men’s volleyball tournament on Friday.

South Korea, which will co-host the World Cup football finals with Japan next year, defeated the Japanese volleyball team 25-21, 25-21, 27-25 underlining their supremacy in the sport on the continent.

The result left South Korea fourth and Japan fifth in the six-team round robin with Cuba leading the table with a 3-0 win-loss record and Brazil and Yugoslavia following with 2-1.

Earlier, Cuba staked out their almost unassailable claim to the championship title beating defending champions Brazil 25-21, 22-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-11, while Olympic and European champions outclassed winless Argentina 22-25, 25-21, 25-11, 25-18.

“I’m glad that we beat Japan on their home ground,” exclaimed Korean captain Kim Se-Jin, the best scorer of the match with 13 points, 11 of them from his attacks and one each from his blocking and serve.

“But I don’t have a special feeling when we play Japan. I’m just satisfied with the result today.”

The Japanese temporarily took a few points lead in each set, but were invariably overtaken by the Koreans disappointing a partisan 10,000-strong crowd.

“There were so many people here today. I feel envious of the Japanese volleyball federation that they can always play in such a good circumstances,” Korean coach Shin Chi-Yong.

“A match against Japan is always close. Win or lose, I hope we can always play an exciting match against Japan. We won today, but Japan shouldn’t be disappointed,” added Shin.

The Korean spikers have denied Japan the chance of qualifying for the last two Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney.

“We really wanted to win today’s match, because if we cannot beat them, we cannot qualify for the Olympics. Even if we lose, we wanted to have a close match,” said disappointed Japanese coach Mikiyasu Tanaka.

“We played well in the beginning. But the difference with the Korean team was their receiving of serve and passing play. That decided the winners. Unless we improve our serve and blocking, we cannot take part in the Olympics.”

Friday’s results

Cuba bt Brazil 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-11); Yugoslavia bt Argentina 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-11, 25-18); South Korea bt Japan 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 27-25).—AFP