Yuji Nishida soars to 30 points as he takes Japan to last eight

Yuji Nishida beacame the first player of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to break the 30-point scoring mark - and what a way to do it, as he bagged his 30th point in the very last action of an epic match to give Japan an incredible 3-2 (25-21, 20-25, 29-31, 25-22, 15-13) win over Iran that sees the hosts through to the quarterfinals of the competition.

It was a win-or-die situation for both Japan and Iran who were eying a spot in the last eight of the Olympics and Nishida had already collected 27 points in the first four sets before captain Yuki Ishikwa started taking control of the front line.

Still, with one match point already conceded, Ishikawa was ready for just his third ball of the tie-break, brilliantly smashing it from the back court past the Iranian block and onto the floor for the win.

The 21-year-old opposite attacked overall in the match for 24/37 (65%) and added four blocks and two aces for his total of 30 points.

He is the tenth player - and first Japanese- since the introduction of the rally scoring system (as of Sydney 2000) to make the prestigious list of those that have scored 30 points or more in a single Olympic Games match.

The historical high scoring Olympic record remains 39 points by Germany's Gyorgi Grozer against Serbia (3-2) at London 2012.

Earlier at the Tokyo Olympics four 30+ scoring performances had been registered in the women's competition, with Serbia's Tijana Boskovic twice smashing 34 against Japan and 32 against Brazil, USA's Jordan Thompson getting 34 against China and Korea's Kim Yeon Koung bagging 30 against Japan.

Quick links:
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Volleyball
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Volleyball - Match schedule
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