The Japanese men's volleyball team, known as "Ryujin Nippon," has won a medal at a major world championship for the first time in 46 years. I've been following the team for almost 20 years now, but I never dreamed that I'd see them on the podium so soon.
The venue where they won the bronze medal was Poland. The Polish men's volleyball team is now ranked number one in the world and is a super-strong team that won this tournament. However, about 20 years ago, just like Japan, they were a "used to be strong" team that peaked in the 1970s.
The Japanese men's volleyball team won a gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Poland won the gold medal at the following Montreal Olympics. However, after the 1980s, both countries went a long way from winning a medal at a world championship.
Among them, Poland was the first to make a comeback. The Polish men's team defeated the other strong teams at the World Championships in 2006 and advanced to the finals. Although they lost to Brazil, who was the strongest team in the world at the time, they won the silver medal. It was the first time in 30 years since the Montreal Olympics that they had won a medal at a world championship.
The Polish team at that time had invited their first foreign coach, Coach Lozano (currently the coach of JT Hiroshima), the year before. They were a wonderful team with a wonderful mix of veterans such as captain Świdelski (currently the president of the Polish Volleyball Association), who had also played in Italy, and young players such as Wienialski (currently the coach of Germany) and Vlaszły, who had achieved results in their age groups on the national team.
Since then, the Polish men's national team has gradually grown into a team that regularly makes it onto the podium at world and European championships, and continues to do so to this day. The World Championships that marked the revival of the Polish men's national team was actually held in Japan.
And this time, Japan won their first medal in 46 years in Poland. This was a great achievement, thanks to the wonderful fusion of veterans such as Captain Ishikawa, who has played in Italy for eight seasons, and young players born around 2000 such as Ai Takahashi and Miyaura, under the French coach Blanc.
I can't help but feel that there is something destined about Poland being reunited with Japan after 30 years, and Japan being reunited with Poland after 46 years. It's no coincidence that the colors of our national flags are the same (laughs).
In any case, I hope that this is not the end, and that Japan will also show further revival, just like Poland, using this as a catalyst.
Photo by FIVB
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