JAPAN NOTCH CRUCIAL WIN HEADING TO SEMI-FINALS AT 6TH AVC CUP FOR MEN

Taipei, Chinese Taipei, August 11, 2018 – Defending and successive two-time Asian champions Japan claimed their first win and the semi-final berth after a convincing 3-1 (25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 25-15) victory over Australia on day 4 of of the 6th AVC Cup for Men at the University of Taipei (Tianmu) Gymnasium on Saturday.

At the beginning of the first set, Australia came out with full force and led 10-3. Later, Kento Miyaura’s well-placed service helped Japan trail narrowly with 3 points behind at 7-10. Both team met at 11-11 and from then started to take turns stealing the leads before Japan snatched the first set 25-21.

From the second set, both teams enhanced their power in service that troubled the opponent’s reception. Japan proved steadier in techniques and won the second set comfortably 25-17, while Australia fought back to take the third set 25-21.

The fourth set turned out to be a see-saw game which saw Australia trail with just one point behind at 7-8. However, Australia found their engine off and could not move one step forward until 7-16 at the second technical timeout, although they tried to reboot through two timeouts. Falling far behind, they had no chance to catch up and conceded the set 15-25 and the match 1-3.

Kento Miyaura contributed a match-high 21 points for Japan including 18 attacks from 42 attempts, while Elliott Viles chipped in with 14 points for Australia including 12 kills from 26 attempts.

“We really need this win to encourage our players, making them more confident. And we did it, showing our achievement of daily practice. Also, we will make different strategy against Qatar or other teams,” commented Japan head coach Taiji Matsui.

Winning this match, Japan will play either Korea or Qatar in semi-finals on Tuesday.