#21 Ai Takahashi
I recently wrote an article about Takahashi Ai.
The first time I saw him play was in the Spring High School Volleyball qualifying finals when I was in my first year of high school. It was footage of the fierce battle between Rakunan and Toyama, which I mentioned in the section about Otsuka. At the time, Toyama was a double aces team with his brother Rui (now at Nihon University) and Ai, and at the crucial moments, the ball was tossed to his brother, who was also the captain. At the time, Ai was only 183cm tall and quite thin, but he was able to smash sharp spikes into the Rakunan court, whether in the front or back, which I thought was amazing. However, at the time, I tended to focus on Otsuka and Tarumi, and the winner of the Spring High School Volleyball that year, Mizumachi from Chinzei (now Waseda University), was even more ferocious than Takahashi at the time, so he didn't get that much attention.
Looking back now, I think Mizumachi was definitely better than Takahashi in their first year of high school. So what was it that determined their fates after that? This is just my opinion, but I think it was because Mizumachi was already a "too complete" player in his first year of high school, while Takahashi was still a "prodigy incomplete", including his height.
While the media was only paying attention to the Rakunan Quartet and Mizumachi, Takahashi was steadily growing. I was not aware of that either (laughs). Even when I watched the video of the Spring High School Volleyball Qualifier Final in his second year of high school, Takahashi had grown taller, but he still seemed inferior to Mizumachi. However, after that, he won the Best Player Award at the Junior All-Star Dream Match, rumors spread that Higashiyama was strong on the new team, and although they lost to Matsumoto International at the Inter-High School Championships, they won the National Sports Festival. I couldn't suppress my desire to see Higashiyama and Takahashi Ai (laughs). I'm sure there were videos of the Inter-High School Championships and the National Sports Festival on YouTube, but the camera was far away and it was hard to see. Then came the Spring High School Volleyball Qualifiers. They beat up Rakunan, who had beaten them the previous year. Rakunan's volleyball was centered around synchronized attacks, and the individual players' abilities were high, so it was very interesting to watch, but Takahashi stood out among them, and even compared to a year ago, he had increased significantly in height, power, and sharpness, and it was like watching a different player. His growth was so amazing. Needless to say, her performance at the actual Spring High Volleyball Tournament was also overwhelming. I was at the venue to watch the final and semi-finals, and every team was able to do whatever they wanted to Takahashi Ai, both in terms of spikes and serves. It felt like watching a show by Takahashi and the rest of the Higashiyama High School volleyball team, rather than a match (laughs).
If this player continues to grow, he will definitely make it to the national team, but realistically, I thought it would be difficult to make it to the Tokyo Olympics (which had not yet been postponed). That's why I wanted him to work hard to aim for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and when he had the chance, I told him the same thing. However, he was called up to the national team that year early and performed very well in the Red vs. White game, and then after a year, when he came back and grew bigger, he performed very well in the Red vs. White game and the match against China. In the Nations League, I had the impression that he struggled mainly with his spikes from the middle of the game, but his serve and receive were stable and outstanding, and above all, he played in many games as the first candidate opposite Ishikawa and contributed to the team's victory. What is this speed of promotion... I completely underestimated his growth rate. It's really amazing. I was really surprised that such a player would emerge. It's likely that this Takahashi Ai will be the one to play opposite Ishikawa at the actual Tokyo Olympics. I can't take my eyes off this ever-evolving 19-year-old.
Also, my impression from actually talking to him was that he was a really nice guy, and of course he's good looking, so he's a player that you can't help but want to root for (laughs). Stars are amazing, after all.
Photo: FIVB
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