HIROSHIMA AND SAKAI TO LOCK HORNS IN RACE FOR LAST QUARTERFINAL SPOT

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Hiroshima Thunders and Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers in face-to-face battle

There is only one vacant spot left in the men’s Daido Life SV.League playoffs in Japan and what more exciting way to contest it than in a direct head-to-head clash between the two main candidates. Hiroshima Thunders and Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers will lock horns in one of the five double headers this weekend, March 29 and 30, and will engage in a battle for an important edge in the race for the sixth place in the final regular season standings.

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Hiroshima Thunders will host Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers at the Higashi-Hiroshima Athletic Park Gymnasium at 14:05 local time (05:05 UTC) on Saturday and at 13:05 (04:05) on Sunday. The home team occupies the sixth place in the current standings on a 15-25 win-loss ratio and 47 points, while the visitors from Sakai are seventh on 14-24 and 45. If one side wins both matches, it will gain an important advantage in the race for the quarterfinal berth, but either way, it will not be settled by the end of the weekend. With two games in hand, Sakai may be able to eventually surpass Hiroshima, even if they lose both matches of the upcoming leg. Earlier this season, Blazers hosted Thunders for a double header in January and lost both games to their visitors from Hiroshima, by 3-2 and by 3-1.

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The weekend will offer a titanic clash between the top two teams in the table in a double header that may have a bearing on the direct tickets to the semifinals. Second-placed Wolfdogs Nagoya will welcome table leaders Osaka Bluteon to the Entrio at 15:35 (06:35) on Saturday and at 14:35 (05:35) on Sunday. Osaka top the standings on 33-5 and 95, right above Nagoya, who are running on 33-7 and 97. If one of the two sides loses both games this weekend, they will be under mounting pressure from below and their spot among the top two may be in imminent danger. Their previous encounters took place back in October, when hosts Osaka celebrated victories by 3-2 and 3-1.

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The only other candidate for a top-two finish and a direct passage to the semis, defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka, stand in third place on 30-8 and 90. They have a home encounter with bottom-placed Voreas Hokkaido, trailing in 10th on 6-32 and 24. Both games at the Asue Arena Osaka are set to serve off at 13:05 (04:05). In the previous four matches between the two teams this season, Voreas managed to take only a set away from Suntory.

Another high-level clash is coming up between JTEKT Stings Aichi and Tokyo Great Bears. They stand fourth and fifth in the table on 22-18 and 60, and on 21-19 and 67, respectively. The Okazaki Central Park Martial Arts Arena will stage the matches set to get underway at 14:05 (05:05) on both competition days. Amazingly, all four of the previous meetings between the two clubs this season were pushed to tie-breaker resolutions, three in favor of Aichi and one Tokyo’s way.

Mathematically, still with a distant shot at the sixth place, Toray Arrows Shizuoka will entertain Nagano Tridents at the Konohana Arena, also at 14:05 (05:05) on both Saturday and Sunday. Toray Arrows stand in eighth place on 11-27 and 33, while Nagano are right below them, in ninth on 9-29 and 24. When they met in January, the two teams traded three-point victories.

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Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 21st leg:
Mar 29, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Voreas Hokkaido
Mar 29, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Mar 29, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Nagano Tridents
Mar 29, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Tokyo Great Bears
Mar 29, 15:35 local (06:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Osaka Bluteon
Mar 30, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v Voreas Hokkaido
Mar 30, 13:05 local (04:05 UTC): Hiroshima Thunders v Nippon Steel Sakai Blazers
Mar 30, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): Toray Arrows Shizuoka v Nagano Tridents
Mar 30, 14:05 local (05:05 UTC): JTEKT Stings Aichi v Tokyo Great Bears
Mar 30, 14:35 local (05:35 UTC): Wolfdogs Nagoya v Osaka Bluteon

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