Ryujin Nippon Picks Up Win, Secures Olympics Slot for Japan

Ryujin Nippon scored a 3-0 win over Slovenia, securing an Olympics spot for Japan. The match took place today, October 7, during the Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier in Tokyo, Japan.

It was a close game in the first set with Japan winning 25-21 over Slovenia. The same can be said for the second set, which ended with a score of 25-22.

However, Japan was able to pull away in the third set, scoring the Olympics slot when it ended at 25-18.

Ryujin Nippon Wins Olympic Slot for Japan

According to the team statistics recorded during the game, Japan had 41 attack points while Slovenia only had 29. Ryujin Nippon also dominated in the block department with 9 blocks. Slovenia only had two.

Both teams, however, scored five apiece when it comes to service.

Captain Ishikawa Yuki led the team with 15 points. 13 of those points came from attack while he scored a point each in blocks and serves. Nishida Yuji and Takahashi Ran scored 13 points each.

As for Slovenia, Možič Rok has a total of 16 points, making him the leading scorer of the match. He is followed by Čebulj Klemen with seven points and captain Urnaut Tine with five.

You can watch Japan’s winning moment, which happened thanks to a service error, below.

RYUJIN NIPPON IS GOING TO THE PARIS OLYMPICS❗️❗️❗️

Congratulations, Team Japan!!!! pic.twitter.com/HUvYiaNoEm

— aly ∞ (@gyunyusuga) October 7, 2023

Japan’s One Last Game

Despite already securing an Olympics slot, Japan is still a game away from ending their Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier journey.

Ryujin Nippon is set to go up against Team USA tomorrow, October 8. This will be an interesting match as USA leads in the standings for Pool B. As of writing, they have six wins and one loss.

Ryujin Nippon, on the other hand, is second in the standing with five wins and one loss. Winning against USA tomorrow will mean that Japan will finish with six wins and one loss.

Should this happen, USA will have six wins and two losses. This will cause the two countries to trade places in the standings for Pool B.