◇ 28th ◇ 1st League ◇ Ljubljana, Slovenia
Japan will play against powerhouse Brazil in the second round of the first league on the 28th (starting at 9:00 pm Japan time).
In the world rankings, Japan is 8th and Brazil is 4th (as of the 28th).
Brazil lost in straight sets in the quarterfinals of last summer’s Tokyo Olympics (Olympics), which entered the quarterfinals for the first time in 29 years, and in the Nations League qualifying round (Osaka tournament) on July 10 this year. In the official match, since winning 3-2 in the World League / Qualifying League on July 4, 1993, it will be far from winning.
However, the score of the Nations League in July is “23-25, 23-25, 22-25”.
Of the 3 sets, 2 were 2 points behind and 1 was 3 points behind. The first set was brought into a close battle with 23-24, and the second set that followed was temporarily overtaken by 22-21, and was tangled up to 23-23.
The first match of this tournament, against Qatar on the 26th, started with a 3-0 straight victory. On the other hand, Brazil beat Cuba 3-2 after a full set.
Both are on the verge of two consecutive wins, and ace and captain Yuki Ishikawa (26) said, “Brazil is playing with Cuba (in the first match) and it’s not in good shape. If you put out a good performance, you have a chance. Eat Brazil. I’m thinking of doing it,” looking ahead to the first victory in 29 years.
Southpaw Yuji Nishida (22) also said when he played against Brazil in July, “We were finally able to come this far against Brazil, with a difference of one or two points. The distance is definitely getting closer. My skin says so. I can feel it.”
In the world championships, the best results were 3rd place in 1970 and 1974, and the previous tournament (18 years) was eliminated in the first league. Japan will be aiming for a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, advancing to the last eight for the first time in 16 years, and aiming to enter the final four after that.
In the tournament, 24 countries were divided into 6 groups to compete in the first round, and a total of 16 countries, including the top 2 countries in each group and the top 4 countries from the 3rd place, advanced to the final tournament. If they beat Brazil, they will make a big step forward to break through the first league.
Japan is growing rapidly with star players such as ace Ishikawa, Nishida, and youngest 20-year-old Ai Takahashi.
Ishikawa, who had just returned from a left ankle injury, started in the second half of the set against Qatar and set his sights on Brazil.
Towards a historic victory.
The success of the three people holds the key.
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[Japan’s first league group B schedule]
☆ 28th Japan-Brazil
☆ 30th Japan-Cuba
(*All events start at 9:00 p.m. Japan time)
◆World Championships Along with the Olympics (Olympics) and World Cup (World Cup), it is one of the three major volleyball tournaments and is held once every four years. The tournament is co-hosted by Slovenia and Poland. The final is September 11th. The competition format has no technical time-outs, and up to two time-outs can be requested per set. In the previous tournament (2018), Poland won the tournament for the second time in a row, and Brazil finished second for the second time in a row.
[Registered members of Japan Men’s National Team]
1 Yuji Nishida (22 = JTEKT STINGS, 187cm)
16 Kento Miyaura (23 = Star Nisa, 190 cm)
2 Futoshi Onodera (26 = JT Thunders Hiroshima, 2 meters)
6 Akihiro Yamauchi (28 = Panasonic Panthers, 204 cm)
23 Shunichiro Sato (22 = 4th year student at Tokai University, 205cm)
26 Go Murayama (24 = JTEKT STINGS, 192 cm)
〈Outside Hitter〉
5 Tatsunobu Otsuka (21 = 4th year Waseda University, 194 cm)
7 Kenta Takanashi (25 = Wolf Dogs Nagoya, 190 cm)
12 Ai Takahashi (20 = third year student at Nippon Sport Science University, 188 cm)
14 Yuki Ishikawa (26 = Power Valley Milan, 192 cm)
8 Masahiro Sekita (28 = JTEKT STINGS, 175 cm)
9 Maki Oya (27 = Suntory Sunbirds, 178 cm)
13 Tomohiro Ogawa (26 = Wolf Dogs Nagoya, 176 cm)
20 Tomohiro Yamamoto (27 = Sakai Blazers, 171 cm)
(* Uniform number, name, age, affiliation, height)