At the 2023 Asian Championships (venue: Urmia, Iran), the Japanese men's volleyball team faced Thailand in the group match and won 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-22).
First set starting lineup
Japan
OH: Ai Takahashi, Ishikawa
MB: Onodera, Yamauchi
OP: Nishida
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Thailand's mistakes piled up from the beginning, and Japan took a 6-3 lead. OH Ishikawa and MB Yamauchi's spikes and blocks widened the gap to 12-7. Japan continued to hold the lead, and in the final stages, they made two consecutive breaks from OP Miyaura's serve, who entered the match as a substitute, to make it 21-14. In the end, the opponent's serve was a mistake, and Japan took the set 25-19.
In the second set, OP Nishida scored two blocks early on, while Thailand, mainly OP9, made side-outs and took the lead at 9-10. However, Japan managed to turn the game around from OP9's mistake to 15-14, and then OP Nishida's spikes widened the gap to 18-16. OH Kai, who returned to the game in the final stages, scored a service ace with the release server to make it 24-20, and finally OH Ishikawa's spike made it 25-21, and Japan took this set as well.
In the third set, OH Ishikawa started off with consecutive spikes, but Thailand had two service aces in the early stages and took a 6-8 lead. However, in the middle of the set, OH Ishikawa's serve was blocked by OP Nishida, and OH Ishikawa's service ace led Japan to four consecutive breaks at once, leading to a 19-16 comeback. In the end, Thailand's serve error made the score 25-22, and Japan won the set 3-0 against Thailand.
Thoughts etc.
Although they were stiff throughout the match in an unfamiliar venue and against an unfamiliar opponent, they managed to win in straight sets. Even when their opponent was ahead, they had the strength to break through and were able to keep their composure, which is proof of a strong team.
As well as the victory, it was a happy event that both Nishida and Kai returned from injury. Kai was also active, scoring service aces from the first day. On the other hand, Nishida doesn't seem to be back in form yet, but he had a lot of good plays in the third set, so I hope he can somehow come up.
On the side, Ai Takahashi was a little lackluster, losing several service aces, but he is a man who can make corrections, so I'm sure he will adapt to this Iranian venue day by day. Instead, Captain Ishikawa on the opposite side was sharp, and although he had one wasteful toss mistake, he played steadily and created an opportunity for a comeback in the third set. As expected.
Also, the serve reception was stable with Libero Yamamoto at the center, so Yamauchi and Onodera had more attacks than usual and were hitting well. However, Sekita, who used the pipe a lot in the beginning of the third set, was still difficult (laughs).
Setter Ryu Yamamoto, who was selected for the A national team for the first time, also participated as a substitute for two players. He had just joined the team and seemed to be struggling with his play, but he will gradually improve the accuracy of his combinations. Even when I watched him on video, I thought he had a sturdy body, but when I saw him in person, I was amazed at how big his back is, even though he is young. He is a player with high expectations for his physical abilities.
However, Thailand was a better team than expected. They were particularly good defensively, picking up Japan's serves and spikes well, and their OP success rate was also very high even for high balls, giving Japan a hard time. I think they'll make it to the quarterfinals.
The seats at the venue were not filled as there was no local Iranian game that day, but the excitement was high. The large supporter squad, mainly made up of local Iranian women, stood out in particular (Iran has separate seating areas for men and women). Ishikawa and Takahashi Ai were especially popular (lol). This is the same no matter where you go in Asia. On the other hand, you could often hear the Iranian boys shouting "Nishi-daaaaaaa!!" (lol)
I think our next match against Uzbekistan will be even weaker than Thailand, so I would like to win quickly and advance to the tournament.
Photo: AVC, photographed by author
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