South Korea's female volleyball team beat North Korea in a rare all-Korean meet at the 19th Asian Games on Thursday.
In the women's volleyball classification Pool E match at Hangzhou Normal University Cangqian Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, South Korea defeated North Korea 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-9, 25-20).
With the win, South Korea placed third in Pool E and will have a ranking round match Friday.
The team was knocked out of medal contention after falling to China 3-0 in its first classification Pool E on Wednesday.
It is the first time in 17 years that South Korea has failed to reach the podium at an Asian Games since 2006, when it finished fifth.
At the same time, North Korea will also leave the Hangzhou Asian Games without a medal after losing to Vietnam in its first second round match.
Without a chance for the semis, South Korea won the first inter-Korean match in the sport since a regional round for the world championship in 2017. South Korea now leads the head-to-head record 8-2.
After losing the first set 25-19, South Korea regained its rhythms and did not let its guard down in the next three sets.
It took the second set 25-21 to level the game 1-1 and held the opponent to nine in the third set to take the 2-1 lead.
The fourth set was tight as the two teams seesawed to tie at 20-20. With Kang So-hwi's three straight attack points, South Korea had a three-point lead and reached the match point.
Source: Yonhap News Agency