The bid by Japan's men's volleyball team to claim its first Olympic medal in 52 years got off to a bad start on Saturday, July 27. Germany handed the Hinomaru a 3-2 defeat (25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 30-28, 15-12) in their Pool C preliminary round match at South Paris Arena 1.
Japan, ranked second in the world coming into the match at the Paris Olympics, was undone by several unforced errors in the final two sets against the 11th-ranked Germans, who blocked and passed well in the win. Germany scored 18 points on blocks in the contest against Japan's eight.
Opposite hitter Gyorgy Grozer paced Germany with a match-high 24 points in the triumph. The 39-year-old Grozer displayed a fine all-around game, scoring 15 points on attack, five on blocks, and four on serve in the victory.
Anton Brehme contributed 15 points in the win for Germany.
Yuki Ishikawa led Japan with 22 points, with Yuji Nishida adding 20 in the loss.
"Maybe we were too conscious of the Olympic Games," Ishikawa stated. "We made a lot of wasteful mistakes."
Ishikawa thinks he and his teammates may have been overconfident after winning the second and third sets.
"We gave off a little too much of an air of victory," Ishikawa commented. "I wasn't worried about it before the match, but during the match we were a little too relaxed."
Added Nishida, "I think the fourth set was a big turning point. We want to prepare to play the way we have been doing so far."
Early Start for Japan-Germany Volleyball Showdown
The match began at 9 AM Paris time and Japan looked asleep in the opening set as it dropped it 25-17. Japan fell behind 9-3 in the set and never recovered.
Although Japan bounced back to take the second and third sets behind improved service and good combination play, it was unable to close out the Germans in the fourth set despite having a match point at 28-27.
Japan fell behind early in the final set and was unable to recover. The five-set loss means Japan gained only one point from the match, while Germany garnered two points.
"We need to get back on track," Ishikawa remarked before adding, "we need to keep improving from here.
He then said, "We are not the kind of team that will end here."
Japan's next match is against Argentina on July 31, while Germany will take on the United States on July 30.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
