South Korea falls to Japan 0-3, eliminated from East Asian Championship final

South Korea's women's volleyball team, ranked 28th in the world, failed to reach the final of the 2026 East Asian Women's Volleyball Championship after falling to sixth-ranked Japan under director Cha Sang-hyeon.

Korea lost the semifinal 0-3 (17-25, 18-25, 21-25) against Japan at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong on Saturday.

Na Hyeon-su of Hyundai E&C scored 11 points and Jeong Yun-ju of Heungkuk Life Insurance added 10, but the pair could not break through Japan's disciplined play.

Lee Ju-a of IBK Industrial Bank of Korea recorded four solo blocks, and Korea outscored Japan 9-4 in blocking points overall — yet it was not enough to overcome the Japanese side.

Korea struggled against Japan's varied attack throughout the first and second sets, but showed resilience in the third, rallying from 12-19 to 20-22.

Japan, however, cleverly drew two consecutive blocker touch-outs to reach match point, then closed out the match the same way.

Korea will wrap up the tournament Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. against either China or Hong Kong in the third-place match.