The South Koreans looked like they would be pushed all the way by their Italian opponents in the opening set of their Pool A match as they just about emerged victorious by a 25-23 scoreline.

However, they then put their foot on the accelerator and cruised to 25-11 and 25-16 wins, respectively, in the final two sets of the match to take it by a 3-0 scoreline.

Today’s other Pool A match was a very competitive affair between Cambodia and Latvia.

The Cambodians made an excellent start to the match and won the first set 25-18 but Latvia then recovered to take the following two sets by 25-22 and 25-17 scorelines, respectively, meaning a fourth set was needed to decide the outcome.

It was eventually Latvia who came out on top in a close contest, winning by a 28-26 scoreline to secure a 3-1 victory overall.

The only Pool B match of the day saw Croatia thrash Mongolia, who have yet to record a win at this competition, 25-13, 25-9, 25-13.

There was also action in the women’s competition with Italy securing a 25-9, 25-14, 25-8 win over hosts South Korea.

As they are the only two teams in the women’s draw, they will play each other a further two times – Saturday (March 31) and Sunday (April 1).

The competition in Jeju is only open to teams that have not already qualified for the 2018 World Championships, which are due to be held in The Netherlands from July 15 to 22 and will see 16 men's and 16 women's teams compete.