South Korea defeated Japan in straight sets 25-22, 25-23, 25-7 to claim the bronze medal of the 2010 women's volleyball Asian Cup on Saturday.

The first set was close throughout before Yang Hyo-Jin smashed home for South Korea's lead at 24-21. Japan claw one point back, but only saw Han Song-Yi had another kill and give the South Korean team a 1-0 lead.

Japan were able to stay within a few points in the second set before Kim Se-Young pulled South Korea away near the end. South Korea held a 24-20 lead but Japan launched a 3-0 run to narrow the gap at 24-23. However, a high-flying attack by star player Kim Yeon-Koung gave the South Korea a 25-23 victory in the second set.

Kim Yeon-Koung scored 20 points and she got a strong back-up from teammate Han Yoo-Mi who contributed 13 points and Yang Hyo-Jin 10.

After two sets firm resistence, the Japanese team's defense finally crashed in the third. The South Korea obtained a lead of six points multiple times during the third set. Leading at 11-4, the South Koreans tore the Japan's defense into pieces and never looked back. Kim Hee-Jin made the winning aces and South Korea had an amazing 25-7 win in the third set.

Fukuda Mai and Oumi Akrai had 12 points each for Japn, but Japan's firing power was obviously not strong enough as South Korea had 41 kills and 15 blocks in the 67 minutes match, while Japan had 28 and three repectively.

With the win, South Korea maintained a 4-2 win-loss record and claim the bronze medal of the tournament. Later on Saturday, Thailand and hosts China will vie for the title of the Asian Cup.

Earlier on Saturday, Kazakhstan defeated Chinese Taipei 3-2 in a fifth-place play-off. In the seventh-place play-off, Vietnam beat Iran 3-0 to gain their only victory in the tournament.

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