Jiangmen, China, July 5, 2024 – Reigning champions Japan had no issues in powering past Chinese Taipei in lopsided battle 25-11, 25-16, 25-13 to stay on course in the 22nd Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship at the Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium here on Friday.
Outside hitter Omori Sae delivered a match-high 17 points, all in attack, for Japan, while fellow outside hitters Miku Akimoto and Riri Kasai added 12 and 10 points respectively. Japan also limited the Chinese Taipei’s offense in the point that no player in their team reached double digits in scoring against them. Opposite Hsu Fang-Min scored 6 points, all in kill, on the Chinese Taipei’s loss.
Japan’s dominance was also visible in the match chart as they dominated in all elements comprising in kill (55 to 26), block (1 to 0), aces (3 to 0), beside benefited from more opponent error (16 to 14).
“Every team competing in this championship is strong and we have to do our best. We can’t underestimate any team we play. As far as I see my girls play today, they played pretty well, especially the outside hitters. But in all, everyone in the team did her good job. Against Korea tomorrow, I think they are taller than us and we have to play the best we can,” Japan head coach Hiroyuki Yamaguchi commented after the match.
Japan got off to a great start in the first set, with outside hitter Riri Kasai unleashing powerful attacks to take an initial 5-4 lead. The rhythm was still with the Japanese after that as they played a fast-paced game with exceptional tactics to take total control. With splendid combinations and defensive system, orchestrated by Kasai, Miku Akimoto and Minami Nishimura, Japan scored nine points in a row to move ahead 14-4. Chinese Taipei regained their composure and hit back, but the Japanese solidified their defence, allowing the rivals’ scoring difficulties. Despite putting up a fightback, Chinese Taipei found the formidable rivals too hot to handle to go down tamely 11-25 in the lopsided set.
In the second set, Chinese Taipei relied once again on their strong opposite Hsu Fang-Min and outside hitter Lin Liang-Tai, while the Japanese replaced powerful Riri Kasai with the 168cm Anna Uemura, who also played in the gold-winning Japan team at the previous edition in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan to land the Best Outside Hitter and MVP awards to her name.
Japan still gained an upper hand in this set, mixing the offensive mobility from Uemura’s attacks with well-placed service by Miina Inoue to race to 15-9 lead and stretched it to 23-16. Chinese Taipei gave it all what they had to match the Japan’s amazing speed and flawless performance, but their intention did not pay off. Ito Ichiyo carried out a fast spike to bring Japan to set point and Uemura produced an off-speed kill for the team’s 25-16 win.
Japan remained unstoppable in the third set as Uemura, Omori Sae and Akimoto overpowered the blockers with their mighty attacks to help the team lead 9-5 and extended it to 21-10. As Chinese Taipei struggled to hit form, Japan held firm and maintained their remarkable run to eventually close out the set 25-13.
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