Men’s SV.League in Japan serves off on Friday! Watch it all on VBTV

Watch the matches in Japan live!

Published 03:00, 10 Oct 2024

Suntory and Bluteon ready for the SV.League opener (source: svleague.jp)

Suntory and Bluteon ready for the SV.League opener (source: svleague.jp)

The brand new adventure begins! Japan’s new Daido Life SV.League is set to get underway on Friday, October 11, with the first match of the men’s regular season. The first leg of the men’s competition will offer five double headers or a total of 10 matches from Friday to Monday, and it will all be live on VBTV.

  • Watch Japan's SV.League on VBTV.

For its inaugural season after the restructuring of the V.League, the SV.League will feature 10 men’s teams. During the regular season, each team will play 44 games. After that, the top six in the standings will advance to the knockouts. The regular season winners and runners-up will progress straight to the semifinals, while the remaining four playoff participants will play a quarterfinal round.

Special opening match on Friday in Tokyo

It all starts on Friday, October 11, at 19:05 local time (10:05 UTC), at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium with a remake of last season’s V.League final between reigning national champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka and runners-up Osaka Bluteon, previously known as Panasonic Panthers Hirakata. The same two teams will also close the first leg with the second fixture of their double header on Monday, October 14, at 13:05 (05:05), at the EDION Arena in Osaka.

“I feel an unprecedented sense of excitement and expectation before the start of the new league. I think volleyball has become more popular since this year's Olympics, and many of the Japanese national team players are also enrolled in the Daido Life SV.League, so I think that these players have led to increased awareness and popularity.” Kenya Fujinaka, outside hitter and captain of Suntory Sunbirds Osaka

The Suntory Sunbirds line-up offers an opportunity to watch top-level stars like Ran Takahashi, Poland’s Alexander Sliwka and Russia’s Dmitriy Muserskiy play side by side on the same team. It will not be any less glamorous on the other side of the net as the Bluteon squad features the likes of Yuji Nishida, Tomohiro Yamamoto, Cuba’s Miguel Lopez or USA’s Thomas Jaeschke.

Last season the two clubs met five times. After losing February’s first two encounters in straight sets, Suntory Sunbirds persevered through two five-set battles to win both matches of their second double header in early March. In late March, Suntory mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 37-35, 25-19) shutout to celebrate the title.

“I'm really looking forward to it and I'm honoured and proud that we can not only be present at this historic moment, but also be on the court and play. I feel that volleyball is becoming more popular in Japan, so I want to play in a way that even people, who are not yet familiar with volleyball, will find it interesting. We practice every day to convey that.” Akihiro Yamauchi, middle blocker and captain of Osaka Bluteon
Four double headers on Saturday and Sunday

The other four double headers will be played on Saturday and Sunday, October 12 and 13.

Hiroshima Thunders, led by Brazil’s Felipe Roque and Cuba’s Oreol Camejo, will welcome Toray Arrows Shizuoka with Brazil’s Alan Souza and Italy’s Francesco Recine on the squad at the Green Arena with both matches starting at 13:05 (05:05).

Another Brazilian star, Ricardo Lucarelli, and USA’s Torey Defalco are set to power JTEKT Stings Aichi as they host Nagano Tridents at the Okazaki Central Park Gymnasium at 14:05 (05:05) on Saturday and Sunday.

Polish scoring machine Maciej Muzaj will spearhead Tokyo Great Bears this season. They will open their campaign with a home double header against Slovenia’s Tine Urnaut, Netherlands’ Nimir Abdel-Aziz and their teammates from Wolfdogs Nagoya. The matches start at 16:05 (07:05) on Saturday and 15:05 (06:05) on Sunday at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Finally, Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers will entertain Voreas Hokkaido at the Ohama Daishin Arena at 16:05 (07:05) on Saturday and 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday.

Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 1st leg:
Oct 11, 19:05 local (10:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Osaka Bluteon
Oct 12, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Oct 12, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Nagano Tridents
Oct 12, 16:05 local (07:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Oct 12, 16:05 local (07:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Voreas Hokkaido
Oct 13, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Toray Arrows Shizuoka
Oct 13, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers v Voreas Hokkaido
Oct 13, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Nagano Tridents
Oct 13, 15:05 local (06:05 UTC): Tokyo Great Bears v Wolfdogs Nagoya
Oct 14, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Osaka Bluteon

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