The Day Yuji Nishida, Ran Takahashi, Yuki Ishikawa & Kento Miyaura Shocked the World !!! What looked like just another match in the Volleyball Nations League 2023 quickly turned into a battle that proved one thing… Japan is built differently.
Facing China, Japan had to fight through a grueling five-set war, eventually winning: 24–26, 25–23, 21–25, 25–23, 15–12
This was NOT an easy victory.
China came out strong, taking the first set and constantly pushing Japan to the limit. Every time Japan found rhythm, China answered back. The match became a back-and-forth fight filled with pressure, long rallies, and clutch moments.
But when it mattered most… Japan’s stars stepped up.
⭐ THE STARS OF THE MATCH
🇯🇵 Yuki Ishikawa — 19 POINTS The captain led by example. Calm, precise, and clutch in the most important moments, Ishikawa carried the team through difficult phases and delivered when Japan needed him the most.
🇯🇵 Kento Miyaura — 15 POINTS The difference maker. Miyaura stepped up in the biggest moments, especially late in the match, scoring crucial points that helped Japan survive the pressure and win the tie-break.
🇯🇵 Ran Takahashi — 14 POINTS Energy, versatility, and impact. Takahashi delivered on both offense and defense, including key serves that shifted momentum in Japan’s favor.
🇯🇵 Yuji Nishida Even though he wasn’t the main scorer in this match, Nishida’s presence alone added intensity and depth to the team, proving that Japan doesn’t rely on just one superstar.
This match showed something bigger than just a win… It showed the true strength of Japan as a complete team.
When one player slows down… another steps up. When the pressure rises… they don’t break.
👉 This wasn’t just a victory — It was the day Japan proved they can fight, adapt, and win against anyone.
Sit back and enjoy one of the most intense performances from Japan in VNL 2023 🔥
Oh he's made it, he's made it, he's come to the raw
Yes Nishida gets his name
Yamamoto is on court
Pummels it across and it's inside the paint
Big roll for that
Wang, to the back line
Nice set, one on one
Containment
Oh, the ball rested on top of the tape there for a while
Two on one
Hong Red with a block there
Hard work from Lee dashing across to this left hand side
To try and help out his outside hitter in defence
Well they went left, they went right
There was no way through
Just looking and staring it down the block there Japan
Finally Ishikawa, that was an error in transition
But China could do nothing with that mistake
Dismissive
Middle attack, put away by Peng
Serve to the line, good pass actually
Sakita sets up Nishida again
Dials down the power
Pitches it really smartly
Nishida finding the answer that time
Little attacks
Ran Takahashi shows him how to do it
Absolutely crunches that
It's the sharpness of the angle
The speed at which he hits
Ran Takahashi
Has just signed for Virovoli
Monza from Padua
On serve now there, China set up
A follow up, a float serve from Xie Dejun there
No, there's nothing they can do about that
Because he's fed into Miura
He's proving to be an able deputy once again for Yuji Nishida
They don't have the successful record that their women's team can look at and be proud of
China men
Strong, sharp, snappy start to set four for Japan
Float serve, nice and high for Ran Takahashi
Two in the air, well Ran was the target
They had Onodera as the decoy player front row
Ran makes that transition, he makes that pipe finish look so easy
Of course it isn't
Almost a
It's 12-9 China
Been a brilliant performance tonight
The noise though
When Japan threaten to get back in and throw that cat amongst the
The Chinese pigeons
For Japan
Done well since coming in for Nishida
There's that back six, the one on one
That ball has to be down there surely
But the shot was missed
They try and do their business with the jowls
Missed out
And are spanked in punishment
With China's serve
It's a pick up
It's a good pass as well
That transition is bang on
Ran Takahashi with a fantastic serve received
He's had a decent match in the block
There's Peng with that pick up
Two in the air
That's a really easy on the eye play from Japan
Ran Takahashi gives it full throttle again
13 points in the match for Ran
The decoy there was Yamauchi
But Ran's steaming down the pipe
Nishikawa just sticks it home
Now Yamauchi
It's 4-4 here
It's the deciding set between Japan and China
Oh
No nonsense
Take that he says
Take that and party
Five foot
17 block points made
And how about that
Making their own luck again
Little bit of movement in that back row
Trying to receive the serve from China
And it was all a little bit confused with this
With the 20 points
He's got the serve in play here
This could be it for Japan
That is victory
It is 9 from 9
For the Imperial team
In this year's final
