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Just a day after the start of the women’s final in Japan, the championship playoff of the inaugural edition of the revamped men’s Daido Life SV.League is also set to get underway. Regular season runners-up and defending champions Suntory Sunbirds Osaka will take on another star-studded squad, JTEKT Stings Aichi, in a best-of-three series, which will start on Saturday at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo and then move on to LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY for the conclusion on Monday and potentially on Tuesday.
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The iconic Ariake Arena, the venue that hosted the volleyball battles of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, will welcome the opening match of the final on Saturday, May 3, at 12:10 local time (03:10 UTC). The second game will be played at the LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY on Monday at 16:10 (07:10). If a deciding third game is needed to break a 1-1 tie, it will take place at the same venue and at the same time on Tuesday.
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Suntory Sunbirds Osaka are vying for the 11th national title in the club’s history. They triumphed in 1995, five times from 2000 to 2004, in 2007, in 2021, in 2022 and last year, in 2024. They also picked up six silver medals for their showcase – in 1985, in 1991, in 2006, in 2011, in 2015 and in 2023 – so they have been in the final in each of the previous four editions of the Japanese league.
Suntory Sunbirds collected the highest number of points during the regular season, 107, but finished second to Osaka Bluteon in the final standings with a slightly lower win-loss ratio, 36-8. It was enough for a direct advancement to the semifinals, where the squad from Osaka survived a five-set upset at the hands of their visitors Wolfdogs Nagoya in the first match and bounced back with 3-0 and 3-1 victories in the second and the third. There is no shortage of high-caliber players in French coach Olivier Lecat’s line-up, headlined by Russian opposite Dmitriy Muserskiy, Polish outside hitter Aleksander Sliwka and Japanese internationals like Ran Takahashi or Taishi Onodera.
“We are finally reaching the final game of the long season and we are just one step away from our goal of becoming the first Daido Life SV.League champions. The entire team has been fighting towards our goal without wavering. Starting tomorrow, we would like to show everyone a great game with this team that we have built over time under head coach Lecat.” Kenya Fujinaka, outside hitter and captain of Suntory Sunbirds Osaka
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Also with a squad packed with world-class players like Kento Miyaura, Masahiro Sekita, Kentaro Takahashi, USA’s Torey DeFalco or Brazil’s Ricardo Lucarelli, and coached by Poland’s Michal Gogol, JTEKT Stings Aichi produced a win-loss ratio of 26-18 and 71 points, and finished in fourth place, way behind the top three in the standings. That was probably well below the team’s potential, as it showed later in the playoffs. JTEKT Stings did well in the quarterfinals, closing their home series against Tokyo Great Bears with two four-set wins, and even better in the semifinals, stunning regular season winners Osaka Bluteon on their ground in two games, 3-1 and 3-2, to make their way to the upcoming championship final with Suntory Sunbirds.
It will be only the second league final in the club’s history. The only time JTEKT got this far before was in 2020, when they celebrated their only title after beating Suntory in the semifinal and Panasonic Panthers Hirakata, the predecessors of Osaka Bluteon, in the final.
“I am happy to have the opportunity to compete against such a great team as Suntory at this final stage of the season. There were some very difficult times for the team this season, but we have been able to get this far by communicating as a team and moving in a positive direction. I would like to play with gratitude to head coach Gogol and everyone on the team. We have made intense preparations to win, but I hope we can show the fans the fun of volleyball without feeling too much pressure.” Kazuyuki Takahashi, libero and captain of JTEKT Stings Aichi
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Sunbirds and Stings have already met four times this season, in two regular season double headers. When Aichi hosted Suntory in November, they traded four-set victories. In early February, the team from Osaka achieved two home wins over JTEKT, by 3-0 and by 3-2.
Men’s SV.League 2024-2025 championship final:
May 03, 12:10 local (03:10 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v JTEKT Stings Aichi
May 05, 16:10 local (07:10 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v JTEKT Stings Aichi
May 06, 16:10 local (07:10 UTC): Suntory Sunbirds Osaka v JTEKT Stings Aichi (if necessary)
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