Ran Takahashi on fire as Japan strip Poland of world’s number one status

For the second day in a row, defending Volleyball Nations League champions Poland suffered a loss after a five-set battle. After losing to Slovenia on Thursday, they were outlasted by Japan in Linyi, China on Friday and, once again, it was after a tie-breaker pushed to overtime. This time, Japan’s star outside hitter Ran Takahashi was the big hero for the winners. With this result, Japan bit away 9.44 of Poland’s points in the FIVB World Ranking and coach Nikola Grbic’s team had to give up its number one position in the chart to reigning world champions Italy. Reigning Olympic champions France also conceded a second defeat in a row, this time a shutout at the hands of Turkiye.

• Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 on VBTV

Ran Takahashi hammered away a match-high 26 points towards Japan’s 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 22-25, 17-15) victory over Poland. He tallied 24 spike kills at a 62% success rate in attack and produced two aces, both in the fifth set. Ran’s contribution was particularly valuable in the tie-breaker. His swings delivered the last two points of the game and the very winner came with a block-out shot, so powerful that the ball landed behind Japan’s end line after the reflection. In an especially spectacular moment during the money time of the tie-breaker, Ran faked a pipe shot, but instead he jump-set the ball for opposite Yuji Nishida, who nailed the point.

Japan’s other opposite – Kento Miyaura, who was not among the starters for the first two sets – put away 16 points, including an ace. Outside Tatsunori Otsuka added another 15, all in swings, while middle blocker Akihiro Yamauchi raised three kill blocks to finish with a 12-point total.

Blocking was the only scoring element in which Poland outplayed Japan in this match, by 10-4 in stuffs, with middle Bartlomiej Lemanski and outside Michal Gierzot chipping in with three kill blocks each to finish with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Outside and captain Aleksander Sliwka and middle Szymon Jakubiszak signed off with 12 points apiece, including two and one blocks, respectively, while opposite Aliaksei Nasevich put up one stuff and fired two aces, leading the team’s scorers with a total of 24 points.

“Oh, I am so tired!” were Takahashi’s first words to VBTV after the game. “We played at a high level and so did they, so it was a perfect game, a great match! We always stayed focused. Of course, tomorrow it is going to be another tough game (against China), for sure. So, again, we will have to stay focused and just play our volleyball.”

On a 2-0 win-loss record and 5 points, Japan occupy fifth place in the current VNL standings after the end of the third competition day, while Poland are down to seventh on 1-2 and 5.

In the last match of the third competition day, Turkiye shocked France with a 3-0 (25-23, 27-25, 25-21) sweep of their encounter in Ottawa, Canada and took away a solid chunk of 15 World Ranking points, rising two spots to number 13 and pulling France two spots down to number seven. It was Turkiye’s first win of the season and they stand 11^th on 1-1 and 3. France are in 15^th place on 1-2 and 2.

Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija put up four kill blocks and two aces towards a match-high total of 20 points, while 21-year-old outside Gokcen Yuksel registered another three stuffs to finish with 11 points. Opposite Stephen Boyer was France’s leading scorer with 16 points, including two blocks and an ace.

In the day’s first match in Linyi, Ukraine handed Cuba a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-16) shutout to improve to 2-1 and 6 points and fetched a good 12.13 World Ranking points from the opponents’ batch. The Caribbean team is yet to win its first set of the season after two matches played. Ukraine’s outsides Illa Kovalov and Dmytro Yanchuk led the team with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Cuba’s opposite Alejandro Gonzalez emerged as the best scorer of the match with 14 points.

The day’s opening game in Ottawa went 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) the way of USA against Germany. It was the Americans’ second win in two matches and they surged to the top of the table undefeated with 6 points, edging Brazil, Serbia and Ukraine on set ratios. On 1-2 and 2, Germany are in 14^th place. With five kill blocks under his belt, USA’s opposite Jake Hanes topped the match chart with a total of 19 points, while his counterpart Yann Bohme led Germany with 11 points, including three aces.

Serbia also registered their second three-point win in two matches and climbed to number 10 in the World Ranking. They delivered a 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22) victory over VNL rookies Belgium in Brasilia, Brazil. The southern Europeans had an excellent performance in serving and blocking. Their opposite Veljko Masulovic hit four aces and raised three stuffs, while 18-year-old outside Vuk Kulpinac put away three aces and two kill blocks as they jointly led the team with 18 points each. Belgium outplayed Serbia in offense, with 22-year-old opposite Ferre Reggers the main culprit. He fired a match-high 25 points for the western Europeans, all in swings. On 1-2 and 3, Belgium occupy 12^th place.

Iran mastered a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-23) shutout of Argentina in Brasilia to celebrate their first victory in VNL 2026 and ascend to 13^th place on 1-2 and 3. The South Americans are second from the bottom on 0-2 and 0. Opposite Ali Haji led the Asians with three aces, two kill blocks and 17 successful spikes towards a match-high 22 points. 21-year-old outside Poriya Khanzadeh added another 19 points, including two aces. 20-year-old outside Fausto Diaz was Argentina’s best scorer of the match with a 12-point tally featuring three aces and two kill blocks.

Saturday’s program will offer another six VNL fixtures. The day opens in Linyi at 16:30 local time (08:30 UTC) with an Asian classic between China and Japan, followed by a game between Cuba and Slovenia. Two undefeated teams – Brazil and Serbia – will lock horns in Brasilia, before an encounter between Bulgaria and Argentina. A North American clash between Canada and USA will get the day going in Ottawa. Turkiye will take on Italy in the last match on Saturday’s schedule.

VNL 2026 schedule and results
VNL 2026 ticket information

Quick links:
Volleyball Nations League
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter