Veteran MB, who filled the void of the national college MB, also gave a thumbs-up to the coach

[마이데일리 = 김희수 기자] After a long time, Cho Keun-ho's name stone was revealed.

Woori Card beat Samsung 3-1(27-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19) in the third round of the men's team of Jin Air 2025-2026 V-League at Chungmu Gymnasium in Daejeon on the 14th. Rafael Araujo, Kim Ji-han and Ali Haghparast all scored double-digit points and played evenly, while Park Jin-woo, Park Jun-hyuk and Cho Keun-ho also erased Lee Sang-hyeon's gap by catching two blocks each.

"I always have a philosophy to focus on what will happen on our court rather than what will happen on the opponent's court," said Mauricio Paes, the head coach of the team. So it was more important for us to focus on how to stop Michel Ahyi rather than what he would do. It was the same against Kim Woo-jin. If there was a difficulty in this game, it was difficult to adapt to the style when the opponent's three sets came in. The same was true of the adaptation to the way he dealt with a new style of striker Kim Yo-han."

Woori Card's biggest task on this day was to fill Lee Sang-hyeon's gap well. Lee Sang-hyeon, who has played a key role in the team's offense and blocking system by banking on his 2-meter height and flexible swing, suffered a shoulder injury in the match against KEPCO, and is expected to be absent for about a month. He was seen in the stands wearing shoulder pads.

Fortunately, Lee Sang-hyeon's gap was blocked by three middle blockers. Veteran Park Jin-woo took the center stage, and Park Joon-hyuk hit a decisive blocking shot to end the first set. Cho Keun-ho came in after the middle of the game and showed his presence in attack and blocking.

"Park Jin-woo played a good role in leading the blocks in the center. On the other hand, Park Joon-hyuk had some ups and downs. He repeatedly performed really well but his performance deteriorated. That's why I put in Cho Keun-ho."

Afterwards, Paes praised Cho. He said, "I was happy to see Cho play such a good game. It would have been easier to play afterwards because he made his first goal with a blocking. I put in Cho Keun-ho because Ali-Araujo-Kim Ji-han had to instill a sense of stability in the team so that he could play risk-taking a little more comfortably, and I think it was the right choice as a result."

Of course, he hopes Lee Sang-hyeon to return soon. "Of course, what we need to do is to push forward the timing of Lee's return to the court by using every means we can. However, we need to closely monitor the treatment and recovery situation. First of all, I will start light ball exercise from next week. I will prepare myself to play as soon as my physical condition returns so that I can maintain my thoughts on the court without physical strain," he said in closing the interview.