#15 Li Bo
When I think of "Lee" in volleyball, I used to think of former US national team middle player David Lee, but now it has become the Japanese "Lee" (lol). This player was a late bloomer. Although he was one of the notable players from his high school days, I remember that he was much less popular than his classmates Hoshino (now with Toray), Fukatsu Mitsuo (now with Panasonic), and Asano (JTEKT). He then went on to Tsukuba University and switched to middle. In his fourth year, he won the All Japan Intercollegiate Championships, and I watched the final against Keio led by Yanagida at an empty Todoroki Arena (Kawasaki City), but I have almost no impression of Lee. At the time, I was more of a supporter of Keio, and there were many other notable players at Tsukuba besides Lee, such as Dekita (now with Sakai), Maeda (now with WD Nagoya), and Kuhara (formerly with JT), so I only paid attention to them. I'm sorry, Lee. (Laughs)
He then went to Toray, where he won the V League with a deep pool of mid-range players. With his excellent combination with Fujii as his weapon, he won the V League and made his national team debut in 2017. When he made his national team debut at the age of 26, I was personally shocked, thinking, "That Li from Hyuga Gakuin? Now he's playing for the national team!?" This is also the result of his continued growth. Since then, he has made his presence felt on the national team with the "Toray Line" as his weapon. When Li is in the forward line, even his B passes are exciting. He was still in good health and had a high level of decision-making ability in the recent VNL. Now, Sekita has also started to give him somewhat forceful sets (laughs). He also has a jump floater serve with a large change of pace as his weapon. I think his serving ability is helping to improve the serving ability of the other mid-range players (laughs). He is the smallest of the three mid-range players selected this time, the only one who is over 190 cm tall, but he is the player I personally expect to do the most. The fact that he is the only Kyushu man out of the 12 players is also a big plus (laughs). I'm looking forward to "Fujii-ri" in Ariake!!!
Photo: FIVB
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