The first interview with Miyaura Kento in 2023 was in an away match against Zaksa Kędzierzyn Kozile, a powerful team that has won the European Champions League for two consecutive years.
By the way, Zaksa is the team name and Kendzienkozile is the name of their hometown, but they are usually just referred to as Zaksa by the team name alone.
Although it will be a match against such a strong opponent, Nisa, the team Miyaura belongs to, won here in straight sets 3-0 in a home game in the first half of the league.
It's true that at that time, Zakusa's opposite was a reserve player, but they still managed to win 3-0, so I headed to the venue filled with hopes of victory this time as well, and hoping to see not only Miyaura's serve but also his spikes.
It took about five hours by train to get from my home in Warsaw to the venue, Kęcierzynkozle (I'm now used to traveling such long distances (lol)).
Saksa's home arena is conveniently located just a five-minute walk from a station, which is rare for a venue in Poland, and the nearest station is The Unmanned Station.
Furthermore, to get from the station to the arena you have to go through a forest-like area with no streetlights, so it's pitch black at night and you'll need the light on your smartphone.
I've already walked this route many times, so it's fine for me, but the first time I did it, it took a lot of courage, even in the daytime (lol).
After passing through the forest, it's another 3 minutes walk to the venue.
Upon entering the venue, you are greeted by past championship trophies. It is no wonder that this is a strong team.
The game started at 20:30 on this day. I arrived around 19:00, but the gates didn't open until an hour before, so I ended up waiting at the entrance for about 30 minutes.
But just like me, many fans were already waiting.
Meanwhile, the Zakusa players were trickling in through the same main entrance as the general public. This kind of scene is not often seen in Japan.
And then we enter the venue.
The seats are mainly colored in Zakusa's team colors, blue and red, giving the place a unified look!
Players from both teams were already on the court.
Then, as always, start the warm-up.
Miyaura's pass goes to the reliable Zelva.
By the way, Zerba is Argentinian, but in addition to his native Spanish and English, he can also speak French.
El Graoui, also from Morocco, and Bentala, from Tunisia, also have Arabic as their native language, but because of France's history as a colonial power, French language education is widespread in the country, and the three of them use French when speaking to each other.
Just English and Polish would be confusing enough, but in that kind of environment it's likely you'd lose track of where you are (laughs).
Miyaura works hard in such an environment, and on this day he showed off his sharp spikes during attack practice.
Ins: toshikit71# Kento Miyaura pic.twitter.com/5yobD5EeYW
— TOSHIKI (@toshikit71) January 16, 2023
I really want to see this at a game, but I wonder if I'll have a chance to see it today...
And here are the free spikes of Ventara, Miyaura's rival and opposite.
Wassim Bentala 🇹🇳's free spikes pic.twitter.com/q1JKYZZ2hZ
— TOSHIKI (@toshikit71) January 20, 2023
Even though he touched the net, the height and power of the ball bouncing almost all the way up to the ceiling was still incredible.
On the other hand, Zakusa had a player to watch in this match.
This is OH Bednosz from Poland.
Until recently, he had been playing for Shanghai in the Chinese League, but as the Chinese league ended in early January, he joined Zakusa as a major mid-season reinforcement.
This was the first game day since we joined forces.
However, it had only been a week since he joined the team, so he ended up not being in the starting lineup, let alone having a chance to come on as a substitute.
Nisa's starting lineup consisted of the usual seven players, with Miyaura starting on the bench.
In fact, Nisa and Zaksa are both teams from the same Opolskie province, which means that this day was the traditional match known as the Opolskie Derby.
As a result, many fans from Nisa also flocked to the venue to cheer them on, and as the start of the match approached the sound of their drums became almost louder than that of the home crowd at Zaxa.
It's a little noisy (lol).
And so the game began.
At the start, Zakusa made a series of unusual mistakes, giving Nisa the upper hand!
Gerjot continues to hit the ball with an insanely high hitting point, scoring a spike over the opponent's block and into the cross course at the back.
Until the middle of the game, Nisa was broken by her opponent and the score was tied, but she managed to get side outs and prevent a comeback several times, so she thought to herself, "I think I can do it today."
But it wasn't that sweet after all.
They were shaken by S. Janusz's serves, and Gerzhot's spikes were all caught in the opponent's blocks and he couldn't score, so before they knew it they were three points behind.
Then, while watching the Nisa bench, coach Prinski calls out to Miyaura to get ready, and Miyaura begins to warm up.
Then, with the team trailing by one point at 21-22, relief server Miyaura came on.
If he had scored here it would have been a tie, and this guy did it!
Service ace!!!
Miyaken's service ace in the match against Zakusa. Miyaken incites the fans after scoring.# Kento Miyaura pic.twitter.com/xjkkUfItHI
— TOSHIKI (@toshikit71) January 20, 2023
Furthermore, after scoring the ace, he waved his arms widely towards the Nisa supporters, further encouraging them to cheer him on. It was a heartwarming sight, and it made my heart pound to think that he had truly become a local, overseas player.
However, I was a little disappointed that the usual praising event by Gerjot did not occur when Miyaura got an ace (laughs).
I think we missed the timing, but I'm sure Gerjot was a little lonely (laughs).
However, the next serve hit the net, and the set went to Zaksa.
In the second set, Kfasovski, who was sitting opposite Gerziodt after his success rate had dropped early in the first set, improved his form, but he made mistakes in serves and attacks and was unable to score when it mattered.
More than half of the members will be changed, but this set will remain the same.
Hmm, this is a tough development.
But in the match against Belhatov at the end of the year, they turned the game around from a 0-2 deficit while playing mostly with reserve members, so maybe they have a chance?!
There is still hope!!!
Personally, I thought that in the third set, they would take Gerdzioth, who was being thrown off by his serve, off the bench and go with Erglaoui and Busek in the OH diagonal position, as they did in the match against Bełhatov, but it started with Gerdzioth and Erglaoui.
For some reason, Kramczynski, the fourth-string middle-back who had hardly had any playing time up until then, was selected to start the game (I later heard that Miyaura was also surprised by this selection).
I'm a little worried.
But in the early stages, we were able to take the lead thanks to Kramczynski's service aces and OP Ventala's performance in key moments.
However, from there OH Silivka mercilessly hit four consecutive service aces...
This turns things around for Zakusa.
The Zaxa fans at the venue were thrilled.
After that, they took the lead again with a service ace from the skilled Buszek, but Zakza immediately followed up with a service ace, and they were at match point at 19-24.
However, first Nisa's Ventala spiked the ball to make the score 20-24, and Ventala was the server for Nisa.
Maybe this guy can do something...
Please create a miracle, Ventara!!!
The booing from Zakusa fans reached its peak that day.
And this was a service ace!!!
Zaksa couldn't help but call a timeout.
Now, let's continue with Ventara.
The boos from the Zaxa fans are getting even louder.
However, the cheers from the Nisa fans reverberated through the venue even more powerfully.
Can Ventara create a legend?
Unfortunately, that was the end of the counterattack.
The result was a straight 0-3 loss.
I felt that serve reception, especially handling short serves, was an eternal challenge for Nisa.
But more than that, the biggest reason for his loss was that he was unable to serve harder than his opponent and was unable to show his true colors.
Zaksz had 7 serve errors while Nysz had 17, so 5 or 6 serve errors per set is far too many.
But that doesn't mean they're getting aces or breaks either.
Nisa is a team that wins by serving, so I hope they can fix this next time and somehow win.
Even though they lost, it's always nice to see the warm interactions between the players thanking the fans for their support after the game and the fans congratulating the players.
After this, we interviewed Miyaura.
The comments are published in this article.
Even with limited playing opportunities, Miyaura always looks forward.
That's why I hope he can somehow get a chance to play.
I hope he can somehow grab playing time and perform well in order to make an impact next season.
For now, I hope to see Miyaura's spikes in the next game!!!
I know that Ventala is strong, but Coach Prinski, I'm counting on you!!!
After that, I got into a fan's car and we traveled to Nisa.
We had many conversations along the way, but the most interesting one was the one about Krek.
Currently serving as captain of WD Nagoya, Krek is from near Nisa and it was Nisa that was the club where he began his professional career.
So last year I was training with the club players in Nisa right up until the time I left for Japan.
He has also frequently stated that he wants to end his career at Nisa, so since he is already in his mid-30s, he may move to Nisa after Nagoya.
I also heard various stories, such as that he was quieter when he was younger than he is now, and that his father was also his teammate at Nisa.
On the way, one of the passengers got drunk and I couldn't understand what he was saying (lol).
But interacting with these fans is also one of the best parts of watching a game in person.
If you are ever in town, why not be brave and speak to the local fans?
Photo: Author
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