#11 Nishida Yuji
I wrote an article about Nishida two years ago. Please note that some of the content may overlap.
Nishida was also selected for the national team for his age group from high school, so I knew him before he became so famous. However, there was another southpaw, Miyaura (currently with JTEKT), who was a year above him, and Miyaura was overwhelmingly more highly rated at the time. On the other hand, Nishida was overshadowed by Miyaura and was a reserve for the opposite at the Asian Youth Championships, and was dropped from the team for the following World Youth Championships. (Nishida still has this tweet from the Asian Youth Championships pinned on his Twitter.) I first saw Nishida at the Junior All-Star Dream Match held between the Asian Youth Championships and the World Youth Championships, and at least to my eyes, he was the only one who was overwhelmingly different, and he had a beautiful form reminiscent of Ishikawa, and his serve in particular was sharp even back then, so to be honest, I didn't understand why he was dropped from the World Youth Championships. He was originally a player who was good at receiving, so he could have been used as a left-handed outside hitter. I thought the people at the association had no eye for him (lol). But I was sure he would be successful someday, but he was so tall that it was difficult to be an opposite, so I felt he might be an outside hitter. I never imagined for a second that I would then quickly rise to become a starter in the V-League as an opposite player after graduating from high school, and then to the starting lineup for the Japanese national team (laughs).
But even now, when I think about it, the flow from that high school to joining the national team was full of so many coincidences that it really is like a story of a manga protagonist. If he had been selected for the World Youth Team, he might have gone on to university, and if he had been able to play in the Spring High School Volleyball Tournament in his third year of high school, he might not have joined JTEKT as a prospective player, and if JTEKT hadn't had problems with their opposites, he wouldn't have played in the game, and if Shimizu hadn't been injured and left the national team, he probably wouldn't have had as many opportunities to play. This is just a guess, but without his own efforts and even one of these coincidences, Nishida wouldn't be who he is today. He's really amazing. Amazing in so many ways. So amazing.
Needless to say, his subsequent successes were great, but what I remember well is the 2018 Nations League match against Italy, which I saw at the venue. At that time, Nishida was still 18 years old and wore the number 32. It brings back memories. This match ended in a 3-2 full set victory over Italy for the first time in 11 years, and Nishida was a big star with 24 points, and I remember that I was so excited and thrilled to watch him, not only for his spikes, but also for his serves that broke the defense and took aces at crucial times. The opposing player at that time was Nelli, who is 210 cm tall, but Nishida, who is 186 cm tall, seemed bigger in many ways. Nishida is small for an outside hitter at 186 cm tall, but whenever I see him, I don't feel his small height, and I don't feel like the opposing team is facing him as a "small player". He has great jumping power, of course, but more than that, I feel something amazing about his playing style, his aura, or something like that. Nishida has continued to evolve since then, and has now joined the ranks of world stars. I think he is more popular than Ishikawa on a global scale. His performance in the fifth set of the 2019 World Cup match against Canada was so amazing that I was speechless (lol). The "world's smallest and strongest opposite" will always be Nishida Yuji.
At the recent VNL2021, he had few opportunities to play due to injury and it seemed like he wasn't able to show 100% of his potential, but just having him on the court brightens up the atmosphere and makes me excited to watch him. He's a player I want to watch and support forever. Although there has been no official announcement yet, it seems that he will be transferred to Vibo Valencia of the Italian Serie A from next season, and he is becoming a full-fledged "NISHIDA of the world". But before that, let's let him go wild at the Tokyo Olympics!
Photo: FIVB
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