In this article, we will introduce the members of the Japanese men's volleyball national team who will be competing in the men's final round of the Volleyball Nations League 2023, which will begin on Wednesday, July 19th, as well as the members and characteristics of their first opponent, Slovenia, and highlights of the match.
Japan
Qualifying Round Results and World Rankings
2nd place in the preliminary round (10 wins, 2 losses, 27 points)
World ranking: 6th (as of July 18th)
Final Round Registered Members
*1 Nishida Yuji OP 2000 187
*2 Futoshi Onodera MB 1996 202
*4 Kento Miyaura OP 1999 190
*5 Tatsunobu Otsuka OH 2000 195
*6 Akihiro Yamauchi MB 1993 204
*8 Seida Sekida S 1993 175
10 Kentaro Takahashi MB 1995 201
11 Masami Tomita OH 1997 190
12 Ai Takahashi OH 2001 188
13 Tomohiro Ogawa L 1996 175
14 Yuki Ishikawa (C) OH 1995 192
18 Nishiyama Taito OP 2003 193
20 Tomohiro Yamamoto L 1994 171
21 Genki Eiro S 1996 192
Eva De Dan left the team for the third week and Nishiyama joined.
Final Round Match Schedule
Quarterfinals (vs. Slovenia): Friday, July 21, 2023, 0:00
Semi-final (vs. Poland or Brazil): Sunday, July 23, 2023, 3:00 AM
3rd Place Deciding Match: Monday, July 24, 2023, 0:00
Final: Monday, July 24, 2023, 3:00 AM
*Times are Japan time
Slovenia
basic information
7th place in the preliminary round (8 wins, 4 losses, 25 points)
World ranking: 8th (as of July 18th)
2022
4th in the World Championships
VNL10th place
2021
4th place at the European Championships
VNL 4th place
Registered Members
*2 Allen Payenck MB 1986 203
*3 Uroš Planinšić S 1998 186
*4 Jan Kozamelnik MB 1995 204
*5 Matej Kuk OH 1996 196
*6 Urban Toman L 1997 185
10 Sasho Stalekar MB 1996 214
11 Daniel Konchilija MB 1990 201
13 Jani Kovacic L 1992 186
14 Dziga Stern OH 1994 193
16 Gregor Lopreto S 1989 192
17 Tine Urnauth (C) OH 1988 200
18 Clement Cheby OH/OP 1992 202
19 Rok Mozic OH 2002 200
20 Nik Mujanovic OP 2004 200
Director: Gheorghe Cretu (Romania)
Player to watch: Rok Mojic
Outside hitter
Height: 200cm
Highest reach: 360cm
Club: Verona (Italy)
A young star from Slovenia who scores a lot of goals with his outstanding jumping ability, height and punchy spikes. In the 2021/22 season, he was the best scorer in the Italian league, and in the following 2022/23 season, he gained experience by taking on a defensive role as team leader. Due to an injury during the qualifying round, there were many games where he was unable to perform as well as he would have liked, but when he gets going, he is unstoppable, and his scoring performance brings great momentum to the team.
Highlights of Japan vs Slovenia
1. Can you attack more than usual with your serve?
Like Japan, Slovenia is a team with good serve reception, so Japan will need to serve more aggressively than ever before. In particular, Slovenia's L. Kovacic and OH Urnarto have good serve reception numbers, so the other players, probably OH Mojic, will be required to serve strongly. OH Takahashi Ai's speed-varying serves have been very effective in this tournament, so I'm sure he will shake up his opponents with his serves in the quarterfinals. I'm also looking forward to the power serves of the two opposites, Nishida and Miyaura. However, on the other hand, Japan will also want to strengthen the strong serves of Mojic and OP Chebui, with the goalkeeper Yamamoto at the center.
② Can you get the middle spike through?
Slovenia's two middle players, Pajenc and Kozamelnik, are very good at blocking. It is expected that they will not be able to make comfortable hits against the attacks of Japan's middle players, Onodera and Yamauchi. If these two Japanese middle players can make quick hits against such an opponent, Japan will be able to create a very advantageous game development. To do this, serve reception and S. Sekita's careful and courageous tossing are also essential. We want to confuse the opponent with attacks centered on the middle.
③Can they score the last point?
While the Japanese national team achieved a remarkable record of 10 consecutive wins in the preliminary round, there were also many instances where they lost the set after gaining a lead and having the first set point. Captain Ishikawa has been entrusted with the ball in particularly crucial situations, and it is expected that he will be the one most entrusted with the ball in important situations in the quarterfinals as well. Will he be able to score the final point in that situation? You never know what will happen in volleyball until the very end. I would love to see it through to that final point.
Bonus: Nishiyama was selected for the first time
OP Nishiyama, who had never been selected for the team in the three weeks of the qualifying round, was selected for the first time in the Nations League in the final round. As Captain Ishikawa said, Japan's goal in this Nations League is to reach the top four, so winning the quarterfinals is the top priority. Therefore, Nishiyama was selected as one of the pieces to win the quarterfinals. However, since there are two high-level players, Nishida and Miyaura, who are both not humble in the starting lineup, it is unlikely that they will use him as an opposite. So where and in what situations does Coach Blanc plan to use him? We will also be paying attention to how Nishiyama is used on the day.
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Photo: FIVB
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