Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, August 30, 2023 – Formidable Japan kicked off their title defence with an exceptional 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-22) win in their preliminary Pool B encounter of the 22nd Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship at the 5,000-seater ChartChai Hall here on Wednesday.
Okumu Oba Fuyumi Hawi chipped in with 14 points from 12 attacks and 2 blocks for Japan, while Khalili Chermahini Fatemeh led Iran with 12 points including 10 attacks from 31 attempts.
Young Iran, whose average age is 22 years old, made a solid start in the first set to lead with a three-point advantage at 4-1, thanks to effective blocks from Khalili Chermahini Fatemeh and Bagherpour Soudabeh and the 184cm-tall Ashofteh Mona’s thundering attacks. Japan shrugged off their rust and started to pull their game together, catching the rivals at 5-5 and went on their onslaughts. As Japan took a commanding 23-18 lead, opposite hitter Yuki Nishikawa handed the team two points in a row including an ace serve in the last point for the Japan’s 25-18 win in the first set.
The second set saw the reigning champions showcase their prowess with swift counter-attacks and efficient blocks to surge ahead the Iranians 8-4 . As the Japanese maintained control, Iran tried hard to fight back. Still, Japan countered with powerful attacks from Miyu Nakagawa, who also joined Japan in their victory in the previous in 2019 (2021 edition in Philippines was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic). Japan took the comfortable set 25-16.
The third set was closely contested, with both sides fighting neck and neck from the very beginning. At 16-16, Japan stayed in control until Hawi fired an aggressive spike to hand the team the match point. However, Iran never surrendered easily. They counter-attacked and defended well to save two watchpoints before an attack from Hawi went without responding. Japan captured the hard-fought set 25-22 and match.
“Iran is a good team with high potential players and we find it very hard to play them because we have to adjust our game. We have never thought about their height and their blocking was great. We next play India. The Indians also had good defence like Japan. In our team, there are 2-3 players who competed in this year’s VNL,” Japan head coach Takayuki Kaneko commented after the match.
QUICK LINKS
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation