The Joy and Sorrow of Women's Volleyball

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics last year, the joy and sorrow of women's volleyball between Korea and Japan were mixed. South Korea wrote the "four-round myth," but Japan was shocked as it failed to reach the finals for the first time in 25 years on its home turf.

About 10 months later, the situation changed 180 degrees. In the first week of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) 2022 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) qualifying round, South Korea lost four consecutive games, while Japan was the only one among the 16 participating countries to win four consecutive games. In the process, South Korea is suffering from a severe slump of not winning a set, but Japan made a good start by defeating the U.S., the gold medal of the last Olympics, 3-0 in the U.S.

Behind Japan's progress is the return of coach Masayoshi Manabe. Manabe is the first bronze medal in 32 years at the 2010 World Championships and the first medal in 28 years at the 2012 London Olympics. It is also famous for introducing iPads for the first time in the volleyball world so that players can data their play results and give instructions on the spot.

He retired after the 2016 Rio Olympics, but took the helm again with persuasion from around him after the sluggish Tokyo Olympics last year. "At first, I refused dozens of times, but I was shaken when someone said, 'If I can't go to Paris, no one will play women's volleyball,' he told TBS in Japan."

Manabe gathered his students at the 2012 London Olympics, when he retired from active duty, and asked them to become the "anturage" of the new national team. Anturaji is French, which means "the entourage of the main characters" and "neighborhood." He told his students, "You need your strength to regain the popularity of women's volleyball. As long as time allows, I hope you can participate in the practice and give me various advice," he said.

Japan's ace Koko is still alive and well. Koga, who failed to play properly due to injuries at the last Olympics, is leading the attack as captain of the team. He scored 93 points alone, ranking third overall. Setter Jin ranked third and fourth overall by 22-year-old Nanami Seki and 24-year-old Takai Matsui. Inoue Arisa is ranked 10th overall with 58 points and is the team's second main player.

South Korea is experiencing trial and error as it has begun a generational change due to the retirement of "World Class" Kim Yeon-kyung and V-League MVP Yang Hyo-jin. A volleyball official said, "It is seen as a growing pain of generational change. However, I'm worried that I'll get used to losing and get soaked in a sense of defeat, he said. "It could be difficult to advance to the Paris Olympics." In order to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics, managing ranking points is important at international competitions hosted by the FIVB. South Korea fell two notches to 16th place in the world rankings since the first week of the VNL, and Japan rose two notches to 7th place.

The national team will move to Brazil to play four games in the second week against the Dominican Republic on the 16th, Serbia on the 17th, the Netherlands on the 19th, and Turkey on the 20th. Japan will move to the Philippines and face Poland, Bulgaria, Thailand, and China in turn.토토

SOURCE: https://www.totositeweb.com