Japan falls to hosts Serbia in Pool A of the World League – Volleyball News
In front of 2,000 spectators at the SPC Vojvodina sports hall in Serbian city Novi Sad, the home team exhibited a wonderful performance and settled for 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-19) victory over Japan.
Serbs were equipped with all necessary tools and tricks of the game. Visiting Japanese squad put up a good effort, but could not achieve the desired results. Highly effective attack enabled Serbia to down the rivals. Hence, Japan dropped another chance to
break the ice in 2012 FIVB World League after a series of eleven matches.
Japan’s Shimizu fought bravely and supported his team with match-high 18 points. He was named the top-scorer of the match, but he had nothing to celebrate. On the other hand, Serbia’s Uros Kovacevic added team-high 15 points and received huge applause from
local fans.
Serbia jumped out of the gate and picked up an early lead. Uros offered strong offence and added a flurry of points. In response, Japan attacked via Shimizu and pushed the Serbs behind. Japan went up on the scoreboard, but Serbia made a comeback and retook
lead. Powerful spikes and aces of Serbia led the team to first-set win at 25-22.
Serbs were in better position to put pressure on the Japanese side with one set in hand. They continued with hard-hitting and built a lead in early few minutes of the second set. Japan tried to tackle the swinging shots by Serb attackers, but faced utmost
difficulty. Charged-up Serbs sent 25-19 on board and claimed second set, which moved the hosts to 2-0 in the match.
In the third set, Serbia led the scores and did not allow Japan to come up. Third set proved to be the last set of the match, which ended with identical score of 25-19. Serbia finished the match in straight sets and marched away with victory.
Winning Captain of Serbia Bojan Janic shared his views in the following manner, "The most important thing is that these young players learn how to deal with the role of favourites, and I am very satisfied with their performance. They played very well, like
it is a matter of routine for them and we are all very happy with this quick and easy victory."
Igor Kolakovic, Serbian coach, was totally satisfied with his team’s performance. He praised their effort and congratulated them for victory.
"Serbian team played very well in all aspects of the game. My team didn’t, especially in reception. Hopefully we will do better tomorrow against Cuba,” concluded Japan’s mentor Tatsuya Ueta.
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