Shimizu leads Panthers in men's V. League shake-up

There were changes at the top of the Japanese Men's V.League standings this weekend as seven-time national champions the Panasonic Panthers claimed a pair of victories against the top-of-the-table Suntory Sunbirds to cause their opponents to lose their hold on first place.

A Tokyo Olympian, opposite Kunihiro Shimizu played a central role in the Panthers’ prolific weekend with great scoring performances in both matches. The 35-year-old veteran, who announced his international retirement after last year’s Olympics, produced 15 points (ten kills, four aces, one block) in the Panthers’ Saturday sweep (26-24, 25-22, 25-15).

He came back even stronger on Sunday, delivering 21 points (19 kills, two blocks) in his team’s four-set (25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 29-27) triumph. Fellow Japan national team member and Panthers’ outside hitter Tatsunori Otsuka had 13 points on Saturday (12 kills, one block) and 18 on Sunday (15 kills, two blocks, one ace) while Polish national team captain Michal Kubiak also reached double digits in both matches, adding 11 (ten kills, one block) and 12 (ten kills, one block, one ace) points respectively.

Despite the losses, the Sunbirds, who are the defending champions, had the top scorer in both matches in Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy. The 33-year-old London 2012 Olympic champion tallied 17 points (15 kills, one block, one ace) on Saturday and nearly doubled his production to 33 (29 kills, three blocks, one ace) on Sunday.

The Toray Arrows took advantage of the two losses to overtake the Sunbirds and take the top spot in the standings. They now have 67 points (22 wins, ten losses) to their rivals’ 57 (21 wins, seven losses). The Osaka Sakai Blazers have 63 points (21 wins, eight losses). The Panthers, who are coached by Laurent Tillie, are on 62 points (20 wins, ten losses). The top three teams will compete in the V. League’s Final Round in April.

Three-time national champions, the Arrows certainly had a good weekend, claiming all six points in their matchup against FC Tokyo with a sweep (25-18, 2518, 25-22) on Saturday and come-from-behind, four-set (17-25, 29-27, 25-20, 29-27) triumph on Sunday.

Hungarian opposite Krisztian Padar was the top scorer of both encounters, registering 23 points (19 kills, three aces, one block) on Saturday and 33 (31 kills, two blocks) on Sunday. Outside hitter Shoma Tomita helped with 16 (15 kills, one ace) and 20 (17 kills, two aces, one block) points respectively.

The weekend action in Japan also had the JT Thunders dominating Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler to a pair of sweeps on Saturday (25-19, 25-22, 25-11) and Sunday (25-22, 25-23, 25-21). Australian star opposite Thomas Edgar led the team in both matches with 19 (13 kills, three blocks, three aces) and 18 (16 kills, one block, one ace) points respectively.

Next weekend’s V. League round, which will start on Friday, will feature as many as ten matches.