This time it's the Libero edition, or rather Yamamoto's edition (lol).
#20 Tomohiro Yamamoto
Yamamoto won the "Tomodai" showdown with Ogawa (even the kanji is the same) to secure the one and only libero spot for the Tokyo Olympics. Ogawa also showed a high performance in the match against Russia, but Yamamoto's experience and relationships with other players were the winning combination.
Yamamoto graduated from Towanomori Sanai High School, a prestigious school in Hokkaido, and participated in the national tournament, but I first got to know him after entering Nippon Sport Science University. He became a regular player as a freshman and shocked the university volleyball world at the time, becoming the driving force behind the team's spring league victory that year and winning the Best Libero Award himself. In the player-to-player vote in the Libero category in the Annual Volleyball magazine published during the All Japan Intercollegiate Championships that year, he took first place, beating out his prestigious predecessors. Yamamoto, who was a third-year student at Senshu University at the time and formerly with Suntory, commented, "I'm not a first-year student (lol)." From then on, he was a regular winner of the Best Libero Award until his fourth year. Or rather, I think it was mostly Yamamoto (lol). He seemed to struggle with the lack of playing opportunities at his first team after entering the V-League, FC Tokyo, but he quickly transferred to Sakai and became a regular there. His performance was recognized and he made his debut for the senior national team in 2019.
His reception and digging are both stable, but his real strength is his digging. He seems to be aware of this himself, and in fact, at the VNL he made many super digs that wowed the commentators, creating opportunities for his teammates. He was a very reliable player. To make a break, you can't miss any of the elements of serve, block, and dig. Having digging ability puts pressure on the opposing spiker just as much as blocking, inducing mistakes. In that sense, Yamamoto's digging ability is very strong. I hope he will continue to pick up the opponents' powerful shots at Ariake.
To be honest, among the Japanese liberos, I was rooting for Koga Taichiro, who I had previously interviewed in Poland, so I was shocked that, just like in the case of Yanagida, he was left out without even being tried.
https://vbm.link/39585/
But Koga said something like "Japanese liberos are at a high level, and other players can play in the top leagues overseas just like me," so I want Yamamoto to stand on the Olympic court as a representative of Japanese liberos, including Koga and Ogawa, and I fantasize that he will also spread his wings and fly to a top league overseas (laughs). Sekita, who is also from Sakai, is also likely to leave, and Yamamoto's skills are good enough!
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