The qualifying round for the 2022 Men's Volleyball World Championships ended on August 31, and the 16 teams that will advance to the final tournament have been decided.
Japan defeated their tough opponent Cuba 3-1 in the final qualifying match, securing their place in the final tournament as the 2nd place team in Pool B. Their next match will be against Tokyo Olympic gold medalist France on Monday, September 5th at 9:00 PM local time.
Ahead of the start of the final tournament, we would like to introduce the best players from the qualifying rounds by division.
The rankings on the official World Championship website are calculated in a very simple way, with players who have completed more sets being given an advantage. Therefore, this time I have calculated the rankings on my own, making the comparison as fair as possible by dividing the numbers by set.
Best scorer: Nimir Abdel Azziz (Netherlands)
Points per set: 7.08
The Dutch super opposite was named best scorer following this year's Nations League. He played 12 sets in three qualifying matches, scoring 68 points in attack, 7 points in block, and 10 points in serve, earning top-level scores in each category. His outstanding performance was a major driving force behind the Netherlands overcoming the odds and finishing first in Pool F.
It's surprising to think that just a few years ago, he was playing for the national team as a setter. I'm really glad that he was able to develop his talent as an opposite.
Runner-up: Addis Laguncija (Türkiye, 6.11 points)
Best Attacker: Agustin Rosell (Argentina)
Attack Effectiveness Rate: 67.35%
The best attacker was the Argentine middle blocker Rosell. She has such a cute face, but her scoring ability is ridiculous. In 15 sets over three matches, she made 49 attacks, 34 of which were successful. She also only conceded one point, which made her attacking effectiveness so high.
At 197cm tall, Rosell is on the small side for a middle blocker, but he has great attacking and blocking abilities. He is definitely a player that Japanese middle blockers should emulate.
By the way, Rosell will be playing for Milan from next season, so he will be teammates with Ishikawa. Milan fans should pay attention!
Runner-up: Roberto Randy Simon (Cuba, 64.10%)
Best Blocker: Onodera Futoshi (Japan)
Number of blocks determined per set: 1
Even though this is only data from the qualifiers, it's quite moving to see a day when a Japanese player took first place in the block rankings. Well done, Onodera. He made 10 kill blocks in 10 sets in 3 matches. In particular, in the last match against Cuba, he made 6 blocks in 4 sets, and stood as a threatening block machine against the tall Cuban attackers.
Japan has always been said to be weak in the middle, but in this tournament Onodera has been active in the blocks and Yamauchi in the quick. Improving the level of Japan's middle is a major factor in improving the level of the whole team, so I look forward to seeing even more improvement in the future!!!
Runner-up: Omar Aghrebi (Tunisia, 1 point (but he was given the runner-up position because he conceded many blocks))
Best Server: Olek Plotnitsky (Ukraine)
Service aces per set: 1.2
The best server was the southpaw OH Plotnitskiy from Ukraine. He hit 12 aces in 10 sets over 3 matches. In particular, he hit 6 aces in the match against Puerto Rico, which contributed greatly to Ukraine's 10th place finish in the tournament (if he hadn't performed so well, Japan would have been 10th...lol).
In recent years, the Ukrainian national team has been growing stronger, and Plotnitskyi's presence is a major factor in this. In 2016, he led Ukraine to a silver medal at the U20 European Championship, and was named MVP of the tournament. Since then, he has continued to play in the world's top Italian league since 2017. Due to the depth of his team, Perugia, he is content with being a reserve player, but he has the ability to play as a starter anywhere.
Personally, I'm a big fan of him. He has a strong serve and is a southpaw, so I wonder if Nishida would be like this if he was an OH, but I also think he has the leadership skills of Ishikawa, or whatever. I'm just imagining things lol.
Runner-up: Aleksandar Atanasijević (Serbia, 0.89)
Best Setter: Lukas Kampa (Germany)
Set Efficiency Rate: 35.14%
The best setter was Germany's Kampa. He made 185 tosses, 86 were successful, and 0 were errors, placing him in first place. I'm not sure how a toss is calculated as "successful," but this time I'll follow the numbers on the official website.
But there is no doubt that Kampa is a great setter. He is 36 years old this year, but he is still a great setter. In recent years, Zimmermann has had many opportunities to toss the ball for the German national team, but when Kampa is there, he is the main setter. That shows how much he is a trusted setter.
After the departure of their big star, Grosser, the German national team has not been able to achieve good results, and this time they barely made it through the qualifying rounds. In addition to Kampa, there are other players on the German national team that I secretly support, such as OP Weber, OH Reichert, and coach Wijnalski, so I hope they do their best.
Runner-up: Simone Giannelli (Italy, 28.65%)
Best Digger: Olek Plotnitsky (Ukraine)
Number of successful digs per set: 2
Plotnitski won two titles. This player is also good at defense.
Runner-up: Fabio Barrasso (Italy, 1.89)
Best Receiver: Ervin Ngapet (France)
Serve reception success rate: 49.06%
The best receiver was OH Ngapet from France. He is known for his flashy plays such as fake sets and back attacks, but he is actually an outstanding defensive player. He received 53 passes and made 26, and did not concede any points. This lack of conceded points is amazing. In serve reception, it is more important not to concede points directly than to return an A pass, so I think that a zero conceded points is a truly amazing number. He is a player who embodies the defensive qualities of France.
Japan will face France with Ngapet in the first round of the tournament, and the key to victory will be how they can disrupt France's solid defense. It will be interesting to see what kind of serving tactics Japan will use to challenge France.
Runner-up: Moritz Reichert (Germany, 47.271 TP3T)
Dream Team
The best players in each division were divided into positions so it would be a dream team. There was no libero, so if we add Barrazo, who was the runner-up for best digger, it would look like this.
OH: Plotnitsky (Ukraine), Nougapet (France)
MB: Rosell (Argentina), Onodera (Japan)
OP: Nimir (Netherlands)
S: Kampa (Germany)
L: Barrasso (Italy)
The countries are all different so it's a good balance, isn't it?! Haha.
As for outside hitters, I think Gape will be No. 2 and Plotnitsky will be No. 5. But since Plotnitsky is a southpaw, it would be fine if they were vice versa.
There is no doubt that Rosell, who has a strong attack, will be No. 3 and Onodera will be No. 6 in the middle. The decisiveness of the No. 3 middle is important for side-outs in the S1 rotation.
But I really want to see this team.
Final Tournament Schedule
Finally, let's check the schedule for the final tournament starting tomorrow.
* () is Japan time
Friday, September 3
17:30 (24:30) Slovenia-Germany
21:15 (4:15am) Italy-Cuba
Saturday, September 4th
17:30 (24:30) USA-Türkiye
21: 00 (next day 4:00) Poland-Tunisia
Monday, September 5th
17:30 (24:30) Netherlands - Ukraine
21:00 (4:00am the next day) France - Japan
Tuesday, September 6
17:30 (24:30) Serbia-Argentina
21:00 (next day 4:00) Brazil-Iran
The Japan match will start at 4am on Monday morning, which is a pretty tough time, but let's cheer them on together! On the day of the match, I will be following the match in real time on my Twitter account (https://twitter.com/toshikit71) I'm planning to have a space there, so please come and check it out if you're interested!
Good luck Ryujin Nippon!!
Photo: FIVB
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