Both Japan and Cuba are now sure to play in the Round of 16 at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2022. Led by opposite Yuji Nishida in scoring, the Asian team claimed a 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-15, 25-19) victory over the squad from the Caribbean in the last Pool B match in Ljubljana on Tuesday and advanced to the knockout stage as pool runners-up on a 2-1 win-loss record.
Men's World Championship 2022
Japan beat Cuba in four sets as both teams progress
Jesus Herrera and Yuji Nishida lead the match scorers
Published 03:01, 30 Aug 2022
Japan’s Masahiro Sekita and Cuba’s Miguel Angel Lopez in action
The Cubans finished third in the pool on a 1-2 win-loss record, but with four points and a set ratio of 6-7 they are sure to be among the best four third-placed teams to progress too.
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22-year-old Nishida was the high scorer for Japan. Although this time he failed to deliver any of his specialty serving aces, he claimed 18 kills at a 58% success rate in attack towards a match total of 19 points. He delivered two of the most spectacular points of the game in the money time of the important third set. The opposite finished an amazing super long rally with a successful hit for 21-13 and then brought in set point at 24-15 after a breathtaking jump-set from outside hitter Ran Takahashi.
The other Japanese outside, captain Yuki Ishikawa finished with 11 points, including an ace for 13-9 in the third set. Middle blocker Taishi Onodera also reached the double digits in scoring, but as many as six of his 10 points came in the form of kill blocks. He was on fire in set three, when he registered two back-to-back stuffs to put Japan at an 8-5 lead and later produced a one-man monster block for 20-13.
Fellow middle Akihiro Yamauchi was the most efficient attacker on the court, spiking at a 78% success rate. He made a particular contribution to winning the first set, when his brilliant first-tempo kill set off Japan’s first breakaway with a three-point run, which he crowned with an ace for a 6-3 lead. Later in the set, two more of Yamauchi’s successful hits through the middle came at both ends of a five-point series, which upped Japan’s advantage to 14-7.
“Today it was a very tough game against Cuba, a very tall and very strong team,” said Nishida after the match. “But we had our strong points to help us win. We achieve this high quality through practising every day. Today we made some mistakes, but we had some good subs to keep us in the right direction. Now I am very happy!”
Cuban opposite Jesus Herrera delivered the match high of 20 points, including 17 spikes at a success rate of 55% and three serving points. One of his aces put a beautiful end to set two at 25-21. With another, he extended Cuba’s lead in the fourth set to 10-6, before Japan mounted their comeback to win the match.
Cuba also started well in the third set, taking a 3-1 lead after their star middle Robertlandy Simon hammered the overpass that resulted from a powerful serve from fellow middle and captain of the team Livan Osoria. Simon finished as Cuba’s second best scorer on an 11-point tally, including eight spikes at a 73% success rate, two blocks and an ace.
The Caribbeans’ biggest handicap in the match came from the unforced errors. They committed as many as 38 of those against only 23 for Japan. Looking for the best solution against the Asian opponents, coach Nicolas Vives made several setter substitutions during the match with both Lyvan Taboada and Adrian Goide getting plenty of opportunities to shine with their playmaking.
Earlier on Tuesday, Brazil secured the top of the Pool B standings with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 26-24) win over Qatar. Their middle blocker Flavio Gualberto led the team’s scorers with 10 putaways to his name, while Qatar’s opposite Youssef Oughlaf produced the match high of 11 points. Brazil finished the pool stage unbeaten in three matches, while the Asian rookies failed to achieve a historic first victory at the World Championships.
