This season, Japan's national team player Miyaura Kento is active in the Polish Men's Volleyball League (Przlyga), but there is another Japanese player active in the country in the second division.
This is Takahashi Sho, a libero who plays for Czestochowa.
We previously covered Takahashi in this article.
On the day of the interview, they were playing at home against league leaders Będzin (Częstochowa was in 6th place).
In the end, Częstochowa, who replaced more than half of their starting lineup and whose substitute players performed well, won against Będzin after a fierce battle 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 30-32, 26-24, 15-10).
Takahashi played as the starting libero and contributed to the team's victory with a serve reception success rate of 571 TP3T and 13 digs.
-Looking back on today's game, what do you think?
Takahashi: I thought we started off well in the first set, but then we struggled with the opponent's serve and other things. But in the second and third sets, we were doing well and not giving the opponent any points, and we were able to keep the receptions, so I hope we can somehow take the set and get into a good flow after the 20th point. I think that's probably what I need to reflect on today.
--Today's game had a complete change of players midway through. Did you encounter any difficulties with the receiving relationships in that situation?
Takahashi: We do a lot of mixing and matching in our regular practice, and we switch between the A and B teams, so we were able to adapt to the situation. However, I think the starting players need to have a bit more responsibility and make sure they go for the first set. If they're not doing well in the second or third set, they just change them, so I want to get rid of that.
- How did you personally perform today, Takahashi?
Takahashi: Personally, I think I was able to receive strong balls well by sending them to the middle of the court and not giving the other team any points. Even if we sent the ball to the middle, we could still score points with the pipe or the opposite, so we didn't have to force it back, and I think I was able to keep it there well. I was able to dig quite a bit in the early stages, which I thought was good, but as the game drew to a close, the other team's middle blocker was turning and hitting the ball towards the setter, not towards me, so I think I should have made more requests to the blocker to stop the ball so that I could receive it more easily, or created more space for me to pick it up myself.
-So far you've been ranked first in the league's serve reception rankings, how do you feel about this?
Takahashi: I'm simply happy that I'm getting good results in numbers, but I came to Poland to play in the top league, Przliga, so I'm not satisfied with where I am now. Of course, I think that looking too far into the future will only save me, so I want to take a step at a time and steadily improve myself. Of course, this season I'm ranked number one in receptions, but I want to have more of an impact on the team, and I want to improve in areas that will be more beneficial to me now that we have a Japanese libero.
-How do you feel now that you've been competing in the league for about two months?
Takahashi: To be honest, before the season, we played preseason matches against clubs in the Prsliga, such as Skura (Belhatov, a prestigious team in the Prsliga), and won in straight sets, so I thought we had the strength to aim for the relegation matches. However, although we won the first and second matches of the season, we started to lose momentum little by little after that, and were unable to carry the good momentum from the preseason matches into the official matches. However, we are finally gradually improving our form and our ranking is coming back up, so I would like to keep working hard towards the playoffs and relegation matches.
- Takahashi, you have no experience playing in the Japanese top league (V1), but you have achieved results in the high-level Polish league, which is in the second division. I think there are still many players in Japan who want to play in high-level leagues overseas. Do you have a message for those players?
Takahashi: I think there is a lot of use of Japanese players and high technical skills, so I think it's just a matter of whether you do it or not. I think that people who want to aim higher, regardless of whether they are in the first or second division of the V League, should consider going overseas. If you are looking for a place to play more, or if you are not able to play in a match and are wasting your time, if you are serious about playing volleyball, I think going overseas is an option. If more Japanese people go overseas, there will be more demand, and of course, I think players like Ishikawa and Takahashi Ai are doing well now, but I think the value of Japanese people will increase. I am convinced of that, so I would like them to take on more challenges.
Photo: PZPL, author
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