Japan finishes with devastating 0-3 record in Pool A – Volleyball news
Japan met Serbia in the third match of 2012 FIVB World League on Sunday at the Hamamatsu Arena but failed to delight the home audience.
Serbia proved to be better and held off Japan for 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 25-27, 25-19, 15-12) victory. The match was a complete thriller from very start to the end. However, it turned out to be a big disappointment for home team as Serbia stole the show.
Tatsuya Fukuzawa of Japan put up a valiant effort and charted match-high 22 points, while his teammate Takahiro Yamamoto followed up with 21 points. On Serbia’s team, Aleksandar Atanasijevic created the spark on the scene. He contributed team-high 20 points
and played a vital role in his team’s victory. Moreover, five of his teammates went into double-figure score and contributed to the overall success of the team.
First set of the match was a point-to-point battle as Serbia used the strong offence, while Japan offered solid defence. As a result the score soared up with close gap. Japan managed to push the visitors behind and picked up lead. Serbians came from different
angles to cover up the gap but hosts firmly held the lead in hand. Opening frame ended at 25-22 and Japan was tagged successful.
The happy slogans of local fans echoed as the home team secured opening stanza of the match. Nonetheless, Serbia hit back aggressively in the second set and earned better status on the scoreboard. Serbian libero did an amazing job at tackling the difficult
shots from Japanese hitters. With consistent performance, Serbia claimed the second set (25-21).
The game score tied at the end of second set and once again fight for points started out in third frame. Both teams exchanged long rallies, while the set score tied at 9-all. Solid blocking of Yusuke Ishijima helped Japan to stop the Serbian attackers. Eventually,
Japan managed to win the third set and extended its lead to 2-1.
In the next two sets, Serbia outdid Japan with a fine display of attack and defence. Japan dropped the last two sets in row and suffered the loss of crucial match at home ground.
“We’d love to have won today, but we couldn’t, so of course we are very disappointed, even though we led early. In order to improve, each member should focus, and as a team we need to come together and get more points. One mistake could mean the game, so
toward OQT we’d like to think about this,” said Japan’s Captain Takahiro Yamamoto after the match.
The mentor of Japanese team Tatsuya Ueta shared his thoughts in the following manner, “Fuku and Yamamoto team lost some points during important phases of game. Everyone was under deep pressure, in a difficult situation. But I think because they experienced
this, I think in future games we will benefit.”
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