Thoughts on the 12 members of the Tokyo Olympics team ⑥ [Outside hitters, part 2]

This is the last of the two remaining outside hitters.

#17 Kenta Takanashi

I didn't know anything about Takanashi when he was in high school, and even after he entered Nippon Sport Science University, I only heard rumors about him, but I didn't have much chance to see him play properly. I just followed the information that he was selected for the national team for his age group, and that he played both opposite and outside positions. But to be honest, I didn't pay him enough attention to look for videos on YouTube. There were no other players at Nippon Sport Science University that I was personally interested in, so I didn't have a chance to see the results. Oh, I saw him win the East Japan Intercollegiate Championships in my second year at the venue, but my schedule didn't match up so I only got to see partway through one set.

I'm sorry, Takanashi (laughs).

And finally, I got to see Takanashi play properly in last year's V-League (late). I went to a WD Nagoya match to catch a glimpse of Bartoszkrek from Poland. Krek was, of course, amazing, but there was another player who played well! And that was Takanashi. His spikes, whether front or back, were powerful, had a high success rate, and his serve was good. His serve reception was also consistent. Takanashi was such a good player. I was ashamed of myself for having known of his existence but not keeping him on my radar until now (laughs).

So it wasn't a surprise at all that she was selected for the Japanese national team this year. And since she joined the national team, the more I watch her, the more I think of her. In this year's friendly match against China and the Red vs. White game, the media focused on the university duo Takahashi and Otsuka, who were also making their debut, so she was treated somewhat unfortunately, but she still performed brilliantly when she was on the court. I was particularly impressed with her serve. In the VNL that followed, her offensive performance was outstanding, and there were many scenes where she scored at key moments, such as winning high sets during rallies. From the middle of the tournament onwards, there were more patterns of her playing in the forward position in place of Takahashi, whose offense was not going well, and at the end of the game, there was a match where she started from the start diagonally opposite Ishikawa. Also, when Ishikawa was not there, she was mainly in position 2, but her serve reception was rarely broken, so it was reassuring to watch her. I think Takanashi is the one who has raised the evaluation of the coach and staff the most throughout this tournament. She showed such a great performance that she was not inferior to the university duo. I also felt that her spirit of "I can't lose to the university students" was reflected in her play. Whenever he was on the court, he was always doing his job. In the battle for Ishikawa's diagonal, Ai Takahashi is one step ahead, but this guy is also gradually closing in. I wonder who will win. That's something to look forward to at the actual Olympics!!