The women's volleyball world championship, commonly known as the World Volleyball Championship, was held until last weekend. Italy won the championship, and Japan narrowly missed out on a medal, but finished in a respectable fourth place.
And finally, today, September 12th, the men's World Volleyball Championship kicks off in the Philippines.
Tomita is excluded from the send-off match
The 14 members of the Japanese national team were also announced today. Masama Tomita has been omitted from the 15-man squad for the send-off matches against Bulgaria and Italy.
The Japanese men's national team is currently ranked 5th in the world and came in 6th at this year's Nations Championship, and they have stated that they are aiming for a place on the podium at this year's World Volleyball Championships.
However, reaching the podium, or winning a medal, at this year's World Volleyball Championships is expected to be particularly difficult compared to recent tournaments.
There's no problem getting through the qualifying rounds.
First, there is the qualifying round, which should be no problem at all.
In Pool G, Japan will face three countries: Turkey (ranked 16th in the world), Canada (ranked 11th), and Libya (ranked 75th).
This year's teams, both Turkey and Canada, are primarily young, with many players active in the world's top leagues, such as the Italian league, but they are not opponents that Japan can easily defeat. Canada, in particular, is not participating, with its main players from the Paris Olympics. Libya is also a non-issue.
In the qualifying round, anyone who finishes second or higher will advance to the final tournament, so even if Japan were to lose to Turkey or Canada, it is highly unlikely that they would be eliminated from the qualifying round.
A match against Poland is inevitable in the final tournament
If we advance from Pool G, the matchups for the first round of the final tournament will be as follows:
Pool G 1st place vs Pool B 2nd place
Pool B 1st place vs Pool G 2nd place
The winners of these two matches will then play in the quarterfinals.
The four teams in Pool B are Poland (world ranking 1st), the Netherlands (19th), Qatar (20th), and Romania (22nd). The battle for second place is likely to be a close one, but Poland will almost certainly advance in first place.
This means that if Japan advances to the final tournament, they will definitely face Poland by the quarterfinals.
Poland is ranked number one in the world, won this year's Nations League, and is the top contender to win this tournament.
Japan has played twice in this year's Nations League, in the qualifiers and quarterfinals, losing both times by 1-3 and 0-3. Furthermore, ace player Krek has returned to the national team at the World Volleyball Championships, and the team's strength has improved even more compared to the Nations League.
I have to say that it will be very difficult to beat Poland.
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