On the fourth day of the Paris Olympic Qualifiers/World Cup Volleyball 2023 Men's Tournament, the Japanese national team faced Turkey and won 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-19)!
First set starting lineup
Japan
OH: Ai Takahashi, Ishikawa
MB: Onodera, Kentaro Takahashi
OP: Nishida
S: Sekita
L: Yamamoto
Türkiye
OH: Lagunzia's younger brother, Gurmezoru
MB: Bulbul, Matic
OP: Brother Lagunjia
S: Exsi
L: Boom
*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, MB Onodera hit a service ace, but after that, Japan got a middle kick and Turkey got a side-out, leading to a score of 8-7. However, immediately after S Sekita's serve, Japan picked up the opponent's spike with a dig, and OH Ishikawa and OH Takahashi Ai scored spikes, giving Japan a 12-7 lead. Furthermore, Japan succeeded in six consecutive breaks due to opponent's mistakes and MB Takahashi Kentaro's blocks, further pulling away from Turkey with a score of 19-8. In the final stages, Turkey scored consecutive points with OH Gurmezoru's spikes and blocks to make it 23-14, but in the end, OP Nishida scored a spike to give Japan the set, 25-14.
In the second set, OP Nishida and OH Takahashi Ai scored spikes and blocks to give Japan a big lead of 9-3. Turkey also scored with spikes from OH Laguncija's younger brother, but Japan's blocks from MB Takahashi Kentaro prevented them from closing the gap at 14-9. Finally, in the final stages, Turkey closed the gap to 19-17 with a block from OP Gülbüs who came in as a substitute and a spike from OH Laguncija's younger brother. However, Turkey made a series of mistakes after that, and in the end, OH Ishikawa scored a pipe attack from a good serve from reliever OH Kai, giving Japan a 25-20 win in this set as well.
In the third set, OP Gülbus and OH Laguncija brother got service aces in succession, and Turkey took the lead for the first time in the match, 2-4. However, OP Nishida scored a difficult ball in a rally to turn the game around and make it 11-10, and Japan took the lead from there. Furthermore, OH Ishikawa's spike from a super dig by libero Yamamoto and consecutive blocks by Ishikawa and Nishida led to four consecutive breaks, widening the gap to 21-16. OH Ishikawa then got a service ace, and in the end, Japan won the set 25-19 due to an opponent's serve error, and won 3-0 against Turkey.
TOSHIKI'S MVP
Japan: OP Nishida Yuji
15 points (including 3 blocks), attack efficiency rate 42.86%
In addition to scoring the most points on his team, he spiked in a tough spot in the third set, helping Japan turn the game around. Although he didn't get an ace with his favorite serve, he saved his team by scoring three points with a block. And his performance after scoring is always inspiring! As the tournament progresses, he's becoming more and more gorilla-like (and I mean that as a compliment (lol)).
Türkiye: OH Mirza Laguncija
12 points (1 serve, 1 block), attack efficiency rate 58.82%, serve reception efficiency rate 11.761 TP 3T
The younger of the Lagungia brothers. He hit the ball for his older brother who was off the court due to poor form, and scored points. As expected, his spikes from his 207cm height were amazing, with an attack effectiveness rate of 58.821 TP3T and few mistakes (especially the matchup with Leon in the VNL semi-finals, where Sekita's spikes from above were helpless). However, he still has some concerns about his defense, so if he improves in this area, he will be even better.
Thoughts etc.
Japan won easily again today!!
Turkey is a strong team that had beaten the highly ranked Serbia and had a close match with the United States, the top-ranked team in the group, so we were prepared for a tough fight, but in the end, following on from their match against Tunisia, they won in the best possible way, 3-0 in straight sets!!
Kentaro Takahashi was in the starting lineup instead of Yamauchi on this day. He certainly performed well in the match against Tunisia, and if he continues to play like this, I think Kentaro will continue to play in future matches.
The first set started with a sudden service ace from Onodera, who was on the opposite side of the court! After that, Sekita used his middle shots aggressively in the early stages of the match, and both of them responded with middle shots. Good, good.
The early stages were a see-saw battle, but Ai, Yamamoto Satoshi and others connected with digs from Sekita's serve, and the side players scored four breaks (the fake sets were as brilliant as ever, and Nishida's roll shot after that was also amazing!), and then Ishikawa's powerful serve resulted in six breaks, putting them far ahead of Turkey in one go!
Meanwhile, the Lagungia brothers also withdrew, and Japan took the first set.
Unlike the match against Egypt, where Japan lost many points through block outs, Japan was able to keep the game going with their strong rallies, digging to pick up balls that had slipped through the blocks and passing the ball from block touches.
From the second set, Lagungia's younger brother showed his true colors and made Japan suffer, but Japan's serve and defense worked well and they were strong. They also blocked at key points. Their serve reception didn't break down either. This is it. This is Ryujin Nippon.
In the beginning of the third set, Turkey took the lead with aces, but Ryujin Nippon was already as strong as ever, so there was no need to worry. Sure enough, Sekita's one-handed set was followed by Nishida! Sekita's super dig was followed by Nishida! Yamamoto Satoshi's super dig was followed by Ishikawa! And then the two of them blocked! From the middle of the set, they continued to break, and in the end, Ishikawa got a service ace (as always, Ishikawa gets aces in the final stages), and before we knew it, they had won the set 25-19, and won 3-0!
Everyone looks so happy!!! If they can continue to play like this, we can see a 3-game winning streak this weekend.
But to be honest, I wanted to see a more intense game. The team's point scorer, Lagungia, was not in good spirits. He had been doing well the day before, scoring 20 points against the United States. After all, they had already suffered two losses and their chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics were looking slim, so it may have been difficult for them to maintain their motivation. It was a real shame that we didn't get to see a game where a strong Japan beat a strong Turkey.
Now there are only 3 games left! They still cannot afford to lose if they want to qualify for the Paris Olympics, but I'm sure they'll do it!!
I'll be there on the weekend to cheer you on! If you see me, feel free to say hello! (laughs)
Standings (as of the end of Day 4)
1. USA 4 wins, 0 losses, 12 points
2. Slovenia 4 wins, 0 losses, 12 points
3. Serbia: 3 wins, 1 loss, 9 points (set ratio 2.5)
4. Japan: 3 wins, 1 loss, 9 points (set ratio 2.2)
5. Türkiye: 1 win, 3 losses, 3 points
6. Egypt: 1 win, 3 losses, 2 points
7. Finland 0 wins, 4 losses, 1 point
8. Tunisia 0 wins, 4 losses, 0 points
The top two teams will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Upcoming match schedule
Friday, October 6 vs Serbia
Saturday, October 7 vs Slovenia
October 8th (Sun) vs USA
*All matches will start at 7:25pm
Photo: FIVB
English 
Japanese