Japan's men's volleyball team shed tears at the failure of Olympic medals in 52 years
Aug 06, 2024
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The Italian men's volleyball team came from behind to beat Japan with a set score of 3-2 (20-25, 23-25, 27-25, 26-24, 17-15) in the men's volleyball quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Arena Paris 1 in Paris, France on the 5th (Korea time).
Japan dominated until the middle of the game. Japan, which won the first and second sets first, has only one set left before advancing to the semifinals. He also won the third set. Japan was leading 24-21 in the third set, but a ridiculous upset began. Italy made deuce based on sub-ace and opponent mistakes and took three sets of gears.
And the fourth and fifth sets were also a super-contest followed by deuce. However, as Italy took the fourth set and the last five, a huge reversal was born.
In the meantime, men's volleyball at the Olympics has been dominated by teams from Europe, the United States, and Latin America. Asian teams, including South Korea, had difficulty even reaching the medal table. The only men's volleyball Olympic medal in Asian countries is Japan. Japan failed to win a medal after winning a bronze medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a silver medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and a gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Since then, men's volleyball around the world has been swept away by certain strong teams such as the United States, Brazil, Italy, and Russia, sharing medals. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, France won its first-ever gold medal, followed by the Russian Olympic Committee and Argentina in third place.
Japan sought its first Olympic medal in 52 years at this Olympics, but its dream of a medal was also dashed as it suffered a shock upset in a single point fight.
Japan scored the most points in the game with 32 points by Yuki Ishikawa, 22 points by Yuji Nishida and 16 points by Takahashi Lan, but it fell by a margin.
Italian national team captain Simone Giannelly told FIVB after the match against Japan "It was a really difficult game, but we kept fighting. Japan did very well in the first two sets, but we got the hang of it from the second. We kept trying to focus on the situation. Thanks to that thought, I was able to win this amazing match. In the future, you should maintain the idea of focusing on one moment and one moment. You can fight anyone."
Meanwhile, Italy, which has advanced to the semifinals, will face France, the winner and home team of the last Olympics, on the 8th for a ticket to the finals. The U.S. and Poland, another semifinalist, will face off on the 7th.
youll@sportschosun.com
