Japan defeats Bulgaria 3-2 on second day of FIVB Men´s Junior World Championship
The second match of the FIVB Men´s Junior World Championship for the Japanese squad took place against the Bulgarians on the 2nd of August at the Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro. The contest was the most thrilling one yet in the tournament
as it went on to five grueling sets at the end of which the Japanese had grabbed themselves a deserving win at 3-2.
The first two sets of the game saw the Bulgarians dominate the courts with the Japanese team struggling to get into their stride. It took an intense third set for the Japanese to finally snatch control out of the Bulgarian hands and grab a win. Once they
had a set under their belts, the Japanese went on to the win the fourth set by a comfortable margin. As the match reached a decisive fifth set, the Japanese capped off a match win at the following final set scores: 20-25, 20-25, 33-31, 25-18 and 15-11.
The Japanese coach, Noriaki Sako, expressed himself in the following words at the press conference after his team had won the match: “We had some trouble in the beginning of the match, much for the emotional side, I think. We bet in our defense and believed
that we could win the match. Dekita played a great match and has what it takes to be a great player, but still needs to be developed.”
On the other hand, the Bulgarian coach, Nikolay Jeliazkov, made the following comments: “Japan showed a big character to fight for the result. That was a key point of their win. We had the opportunity to close the match, but did not have the character to
make it. I really hope this match can be a good lesson for our young players.”
The first set of the game was fairly one sided with the Bulgarians remaining strong because of their superior blocking skills. The Bulgarians had the lead at 14-11 from where they did not take a long time to cruise towards a win at 25-20.
Ending the previous set on a winning note worked well for the Bulgarians in the second set as they took the lead at 8-6 which they were able to extend till 19-13. Despite the fact that the Japanese coach called for a time out, the Bulgarians continued on
their winning streak and bagged the second set at 25-20.
Losing two sets of the game did not sit well with the Japanese and they came out strong in the third set to get the lead at 6-3. However, the Bulgarians did not give up and closed in the gap at 19-18. The set seemed never ending as both teams were fighting
for a win but it was the Japanese squad that got its way at 33-31. The next two sets were a breeze as the Japanese cruised to a win.
The player that played an integral role on the Japanese team was Takashi Dekita, tallying 47 points overall while the Bulgarian Nikolay Penchev registered 24 points.
Tags: