Taiwan's women's volleyball team beat Indonesia in straight sets on September 22 to finish fifth at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, closing a campaign in which captain Liao Yi-jen drew nearly as much attention off the court as on it.
Liao, a setter who leads the side that competes internationally as Chinese Taipei, spent the tournament fielding questions from Japanese and South Korean reporters about a nickname she never asked for and a league she has not yet joined. Asked whether she would consider playing in South Korea's professional V-League, she did not hedge: "If I received an invitation from South Korea, I would be very happy."
Chinese Taipei Closed The Tournament With A Straight Sets Win
The fifth-place playoff was never close. Taiwan took the opening set 25-15, held off a tighter second 25-20, then ran away with the third 25-11 to seal fifth place in the women's volleyball draw.
The win gave the squad a clean finish after an uneven run through the bracket, and closed out a tournament that had turned on a single result earlier in the week.
A Loss To Japan Reset The Team Mid Tournament
Liao said the earlier defeat to Japan had hit the squad hard, and that conditions inside the venue made the recovery harder still. The hall was extremely hot, she said, which tested the players' stamina.
The team reset quickly enough to win both of its subsequent placement matches. Liao, who previously played in Japan for KANOA LAULEA'S Fukuoka, said that experience had helped her, but she was blunt about the gap: Japan's players are stronger overall and far more experienced, while Taiwan's roster still includes university students and several young players.
Japanese Broadcasts Turned Her Number 12 Into A Nickname
Liao's profile in Japan grew from television scheduling as much as from her play. Ahead of Japan's semifinal against South Korea, local broadcasters replayed highlights of the Japan versus Chinese Taipei quarterfinal, putting the Taiwanese captain in her No. 12 jersey back in front of a national audience.
Japanese viewers latched onto the contrast between her sweet features and her focused expression during play, and began describing her online as a "moe magical girl," borrowing the anime shorthand for a character who looks disarmingly gentle and turns formidable in action. The nickname handed the Chinese Taipei captain a following abroad that had little to do with the standings.
Two Matches Against Korea Built An Audience She Did Not Expect
The attention did not stop in Japan. Chinese Taipei faced South Korea twice during this year's Asian Volleyball Confederation competition, and those meetings gradually brought Liao into the view of Korean fans.
She said she had not known she had picked up supporters there, and thanked them once she found out. The discovery sharpened a question that has been following her since her stint in Japan: where a Taiwanese international goes next.
She Rates The Korean League For Its Blocking
Liao told South Korean reporters she watches KOVO matches from time to time and considers the league highly competitive, singling out Korean players' strength at blocking as the part of their game that stands out to her.
She stopped short of announcing any plan to move, saying only that an offer would be welcome. For a player who has already tested herself in Japan, an approach from a second overseas league would mark the next step in a career that, this month, expanded well beyond the scoreboard.
