The Japanese League leaders need one win this weekend to take the top spot ahead of time
Published 07:30, 04 Apr 2025
Ran Takahashi has been a key player in Suntory's recent great form (Photo: SV.League)
The first-placed team in the 2024-2025 men’s Daido Life SV.League, Osaka Bluteon will have their first opportunity to clinch the top seed ahead of the start of the playoffs this week, when they play twice at home against second-placed Suntory Sunbirds Osaka.
If Bluteon win one of the matches scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at 13:05 local time (4:05 GMT), they will get out of the reach of their crosstown rivals, guaranteeing the best campaign of the regular season.
The team led by Japanese national team star opposite Yuji Nishida currently has 35 and five losses, sitting at the top of the standings. With four more matches to play before the end of the regular season, they can confirm the best campaign among the ten teams with a win over Suntory, who have 32 wins and eight losses and could, then, only get to 35 victories before the start of the playoffs.
Bluteon will face the team trailing them in the standings for a second-straight week after they topped then-second-placed Wolfdogs Nagoya twice on the road last week, extending their winning streak in the Japanese League to six matches.
Their last defeat, however, came exactly against Suntory, when the teams met for the second time in the season, last month. This week’s encounters could also serve as a tie-breaker for the Osaka rivals as while Bluteon won back-to-back matches against their opponents in October, Suntory came out on top of March’s duels.
With star outside hitter Ran Takahashi in great form, Suntory are the hottest team in the SV.League right now, having won their last 12 matches. Last weekend, they prevailed over bottom-placed Voreas Hokkaido.
At the same time they challenge Bluteon for their spot in the top of the standings, Suntory also want to make sure they will be one of the best two teams in the regular season, which would place them directly in the semifinals.
Nagoya are the only threat for them right now, appearing in third place, with 33 wins and nine losses. Unlike the Osaka rivals, however, they only have two matches to play, facing Voreas at home on Saturday, at 15:35 local time (6:35 GMT), and on Sunday, one hour earlier, and need to take two wins home in order to have better chances.
The race for the last spot in the playoffs also continues this week, having sixth-placed Hiroshima Thunders and seventh-placed Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers as the candidates to take it. The only way for a definition to happen on Sunday is if one of them takes two wins and the other suffers two losses this weekend.
Hiroshima, who have 16 wins and 26 losses, will complete their regular season schedule with back-to-back road matches against eighth-placed Toray Arrows Shizuoka – matches will start at 11:05 local time (2:05 GMT) on both days.
Sakai, who still have four matches to play, will also be visitors this weekend, meeting fifth-placed Tokyo Great Bears on Saturday, at 15:05 local time (6:05 GMT), and on Sunday, one hour earlier. They are behind, with 15 wins and 25 losses, but will have two more matches in their schedule next week.
Completing the 22nd leg of the Japanese League, ninth-placed VC Nagano Tridents will host fourth-placed JTEKT Stings Aichi on Saturday, at 14:05 local time (5:05 GMT), and on Sunday, at 13:05 local time (4:05 GMT).
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