South Korea will host five international women's volleyball teams this week in Jinju as part of crucial World Championship preparations. The 2025 Korea Invitational tournament runs August 12-17, featuring a single round-robin format just days before volleyball's premier global competition begins.
The event brings together Argentina, Czechia, France, Japan, and Sweden alongside the Korean hosts, with all visiting nations heading to Thailand afterward for the World Championship starting August 22.
"This tournament provides the perfect opportunity for teams to test their squads under competitive conditions before the World Championship," a tournament spokesperson might say about the timing of this preparatory event.
A total of 15 matches will be played over five days, with three games scheduled daily except for August 14, which appears to be a rest day. The action begins August 12 with Japan facing France in the opening match, followed by hosts Korea taking on Argentina, and Czechia meeting Sweden.
Interestingly, the schedule creates different challenges for each team, with varying recovery times between matches. Japan, for instance, will face all their opponents in consecutive days between August 12-16, while other teams have more distributed schedules.
The tournament structure ensures each team faces every other competitor exactly once, providing coaches a final opportunity to evaluate players and tactics. Will these final tune-up matches reveal the true contenders for the upcoming World Championship?
Fans of women's volleyball can look forward to high-level competition as these six nations put final touches on their World Championship preparations in what promises to be an intense week of volleyball action in Jinju.
