The Asian Championships are being held in Japan from today. This will be the first time in two years since the 2019 World Cup that the Japanese national team will play in front of spectators, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how this tournament will turn out! (I'm also planning to watch the final day in person!)
The European Championships are being held in Europe ahead of the Asian Championships. This year's men's European Championships are being held jointly by Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Estonia (in recent years, the European Championships have often been held in multiple countries), and from Japan you can watch all the matches on EuroVolleyTV for 4.99 euros (about 650 yen). I use this site to watch the matches.
https://www.eurovolley.tv/en-int/page/home-cev
Japan is still under a state of emergency, but in Europe, where vaccination is progressing, the obligation to wear masks has been lifted, and fans at each venue can be seen in the live broadcast looking no different than they did before the pandemic.
It's great to have fans at the venue. This year's Nations League and the Tokyo Olympics were great fun, with many high-level matches, and I'm sure I was excited and moved, but the footage also had a certain loneliness to it. This was because the matches were played without spectators, and there were no fans at the venue to watch the games. Even when a player showed off a great play, the excitement of the announcer was conveyed, but there was no rumbling roar created by the reaction of many spectators with "Ohhh!!", or respectful applause, and other things that fans create, at that venue.
That's why the footage of this European Championship is so moving. In particular, the packed home games in each country are heartwarming. Before the pandemic, Polish fans were singing the Polish national anthem a cappella, but it seems to be more powerful than before, perhaps because they couldn't sing it until now. The Estonian national team was the only host country that did not make it through the qualifying rounds, but after the final match against France, the whole venue clapped and praised their team. Although they are not the host country, the fans of the French team, who won the Tokyo Olympics, are also very noticeable. The fans and players are all lively, and just watching them gives you energy. It makes me want to go there again.
It used to be a normal sight, but now that I'm back after a time when it wasn't normal, I can see how much energy the fans gave to the gym. The players must be feeling that more than anything right now. The team and the fans are one. I really felt that it's a sport that exists because of the fans.
Well, the Asian Championships start today. Although there will be spectators, I think that in Japan there are still restrictions on cheering, such as wearing masks and not shouting. Even so, the energy of the fans at the venue will surely be transmitted to the athletes. I hope that they will use that chemical reaction to push forward to victory!
Photo: CEV
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