On the second day of the first match of the Paris Olympic Qualifiers/World Cup Volleyball 2023 Men's Tournament, Japan faced Egypt and lost 2-3 (25-14, 25-10, 23-25, 23-25, 13-15).
First set starting lineup
Japan
OH: Ai Takahashi, Ishikawa
MB: Onodera, Yamauchi
OP: Nishida
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
Egypt
OH: Afifi, Issa
MB: Dora, Seudi
OP: Haikal
S: Elakhany
L: Leda
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
In the first set, Japan scored points mainly from OP Nishida and Egypt from OH Afifi, leading to a score of 7-7. From there, Japan took the lead with consecutive points from MB Yamauchi's blocks and OH Ishikawa's spikes, leading to an 11-7 lead. After that, OH Ishikawa's spikes, MB Onodera's blocks, and service aces led to consecutive points, leading to a score of 23-13, and finally, a serve from OP Miyaura, who entered the match as a substitute, turned into an ace, leading Japan to take the set with a score of 25-14.
In the second set, Egypt made many mistakes, while Japan took the lead 8-4 with OP Nishida's spikes. OH Ishikawa and MB Yamauchi then scored two aces each on their serves, scoring consecutive points and widening the gap to 19-8. Japan's momentum continued, with OP Nishida's service aces and pipe attacks making it 22-9, and finally MB Onodera's spike made it 25-10, and Japan took the set without any trouble.
In the third set, Egypt started with OH El Hossiny and OH Deyo. Early on, Egypt took a 2-4 lead with OH El Hossiny's spikes and other efforts, and then OP Heikal's spikes and service aces widened the gap to 8-13. Japan also closed the gap to 19-20 with a spike from OH Ishikawa and a block from OH Takahashi Ai, but Egypt widened the gap again to 19-23 with a service ace from OH Deyo. Japan then made it 22-23 with a service ace from OP Nishida, but in the end, after a long rally, MB Seudi's quick shot was successful and Egypt took the set 23-25.
The fourth set was a close one at the beginning, but OP Heikal's spikes and Japan's spike losses gave Egypt a big lead of 7-12. Japan then replaced their setter with Yamamoto Ryu. OP Nishida then scored consecutive spikes to make it 10-12, but the game then became a battle for side-outs and the score gap did not narrow. Towards the end, OH Ishikawa scored a spike from OH Takahashi Ai's serve to close the gap to 21-22, but Egypt was unable to score the last point, and OP Heikal, who was in top form, scored a goal to make it 23-25, and Egypt took this set as well.
In the fifth set, Japan continued to use S Yamamoto Ryu. Early on, OH Takahashi Ai made a spike error, making it 2-4, but he quickly tied it at 4-4 with his own service ace. After that, it was a battle for side-outs, but Egypt's mistake allowed Japan to turn the game around to 10-9. However, OH Ishikawa was caught in a block, allowing Egypt to turn the game around again to 12-13, and in the end, OH El Hossiny scored a spike to give Egypt a 13-15 win, and Japan suffered a reversal loss to Egypt, 2-3.
personal MVP
Japan: Ryu Yamamoto
He came on as a substitute in the 4th set when the team was at a disadvantage, and helped his team with a careful and dedicated set. Unfortunately, he was not able to be the savior of the team, but I have a feeling that he will be a key player in future matches. However, personally, I would have liked him to hit the final serve of the 5th set with all his might, even if it meant making a mistake.
*The photo was taken during the Asian Championships.
Egypt: OH El Hossiny Eissa
10 points, attack efficiency rate 38.10%, serve receive efficiency rate 24.0%
He was brought in at the start of the third set and led the team to a comeback victory with his stable serve reception and effective spikes. In particular, in the fifth set, he had an 83.3% spike success rate and was in an unbeatable state where "if you hit it, it's a win." I think one of the main reasons for our loss was that we were unable to defeat him.
Thoughts etc.
On this day, I was unable to avoid the future that I had somehow managed to avoid the day before.
Just like in the match against Finland, they took the first and second sets without any problems, but from the third set onwards, they seemed like a different team and their performance did not improve, losing the third and fourth sets. Then Egypt took the fifth set.
I have never seen such a Dragon God Nippon this year. Something unusual is clearly happening within the team. In particular, captain Ishikawa has always been a good player when it counted this season, but we have not seen his usual play in the past two days.
It goes without saying that Egypt's play from the third set onwards was superb, but it is also true that Japan was clearly different to the Japan we have seen up until now.
Prior to this tournament, the only teams Japan had lost to in official matches this year were Poland and Italy, both of which were ranked higher in the world than Japan, and Japan had never lost a match that went to full sets. I never expected either of them to be defeated by Egypt.
To be honest, I still haven't been able to process this incident in my head, but now we can't afford to lose even one of the remaining five games if we want to secure a ticket to the Paris Olympics.
Honestly, I have no idea what is going on with Ryujin Nippon right now. All we can do is believe in him and support him. There is a day until the next match against Tunisia, so I believe they will be able to refresh their minds and enjoy playing volleyball as they always do in the remaining five matches.
Seriously, do your best Ryujin Nippon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Standings (as of the end of Day 2)
1. USA 2 wins, 0 losses, 6 points
2. Slovenia 2 wins, 0 losses, 6 points
3. Serbia: 1 win, 1 loss, 3 points (set ratio 1.33)
4. Japan: 1 win, 1 loss, 3 points (set ratio 1.00)
5. Türkiye: 1 win, 1 loss, 3 points (set ratio 0.75)
6. Egypt: 1 win, 1 loss, 2 points
7. Finland 0 wins, 2 losses, 1 point
8. Tunisia 0 wins, 2 losses, 0 points
The top two teams will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Upcoming match schedule
Tuesday, October 3rd vs Tunisia
Wednesday, October 4 vs Türkiye
Friday, October 6 vs Serbia
Saturday, October 7 vs Slovenia
October 8th (Sun) vs USA
*All matches will start at 7:25pm
Photo: FIVB, AVC
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