We will report on Japan's results on the first day of men's volleyball at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as other match results and provisional rankings!
Results of the first day of the tournament (July 24th)
Japan vs Venezuela 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-15)
First set starting lineup (serving order)
Japan: S12 Sekita, OH14 Ishikawa, MB6 Yamauchi, OP11 Nishida, OH21 Takahashi, MB2 Onodera, L20 Yamamoto
Venezuela: OH17 Faola, MB11 Verdy, OP5 Rodriguez, OH19 Rivas, MB7 Valencia, S1 Velasquez, L4 Mata
In the first match of the Tokyo Olympics, Japan played against Venezuela of South America and won 3-0. Since Japan had lost all games in the previous Olympics in 2008, this was their first victory in the Olympics in 29 years, since Barcelona in 1992.
Japan started with the same players they played in the final week of the Nations League. They will probably be in the starting lineup for future matches. The first set started with a point from Ishikawa. Japan struggled to break down the lower-ranked Venezuela with their serves, and the seesaw game continued with side-outs from the powerful quicks of the opponent's MB Valencia. However, in the middle of the game, Yamauchi succeeded in breaking with three consecutive blocks, and they took the first set without allowing the opponent to follow up. From the second set onwards, Japan's serve and block worked from the beginning. Setter Sekita also built the game around attacks from the center of the court with quicks and pipes, making for an ideal development. In the third set, Nishida's long-awaited serve came out, widening the lead by a large amount, and many reserve players were brought in. In the end, Toray's "Fuji-Ri" duo's quicks penetrated the opponent's court, and the game was set. They won comfortably against Venezuela in straight sets.
The captain, Yuki Ishikawa, scored the most points with 15 points. He had a great performance with a spike success rate of over 601 TP3T. I was able to watch with peace of mind. Just as expected. Also, 19-year-old Ai Takahashi showed some sharp movements! I'm really glad that we were able to win the first game against Venezuela, which we absolutely cannot afford to lose!
The next match is against Canada on Monday the 26th. Canada is the team that we lost to in the Nations League. It will be tough if we can't show the same strength from the beginning as we did in the third set today. I think that Nishida's explosion, which made a legend in the 2019 World Cup match against Canada, will be the key. Today, he was a little slow to get going, so I hope we can see Nishida at full throttle from the start the day after tomorrow! A win against Canada is essential to passing the qualifying round despite our poor performance. I look forward to his revenge in the Nations League!
Other results
Pool A
Italy vs Canada 3 : 2 (26-28, 18-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-11)
Poland vs Iran 2 : 3 (25-18, 22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 21-23)
Pool B
Brazil vs Tunisia 3 : 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-15)
Russia vs Argentina 3 : 1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-17, 25-21)
USA vs France 3 : 0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-22)
The remaining two matches in Pool A, which also included Japan, were both full-set battles. Canada's effective blocking brought Italy to the brink, but Italy's 19-year-old Micheletto's performance led to a major comeback victory. Poland vs Iran was also a close match. The first set was a one-sided affair that hinted at a straight win for Poland, but Iran recovered from the second set onwards and won the long, long tiebreak in the fifth set to come from behind and win. For Iran, it was a valuable win against a higher-ranked opponent, and for Poland, it was a frustrating loss against an opponent they should have beaten.
Pool B was won by the regular Olympic best four countries. However, it was unexpected that France, who won the bronze medal in this year's Nations League, would lose so easily to the United States. France was said to be a favorite to win the last Rio Olympics, but was unexpectedly eliminated in the qualifying round. Will they be defeated by the Olympic demon again this time?
Provisional ranking
Pool A
- Japan 1 win 3 points
- Italy 1 win, 2 points
- Iran: 1 win, 2 points
- Poland 0 wins 1 point
------------------ - Canada 0 wins, 1 point
- Venezuela 0 wins 0 points
Pool B
- Brazil: 1 win, 3 points
- USA: 1 win, 3 points
- Russia: 1 win, 3 points
- Argentina 0 wins 0 points
------------------ - France 0 wins 0 points
- Tunisia 0 wins 0 points
Schedule for the second day of the tournament (July 26th)
9:00 Iran vs Venezuela
11:05 USA vs Russia
14:20 Poland vs Italy
16:25 France vs Tunisia
19:40 Japan vs Canada
21:45 Brazil vs Argentina
How to watch
Television broadcast (Japan matches only)
- TV Asahi 19:00~
Webcast
Photo: FIVB
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