By Hiroki Noda,
Japan squandered four match points on the way to losing to 2022 world champion Italy three sets to two in the men's volleyball quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
Japan, looking for its first Olympic men's volleyball medal in 52 years, took the first two sets 25-20, 25-23 and led 24-21 in the third before Italy stormed back to win 27-25, 26-24, 17-15 at South Paris Arena.
In the final set, Japan captain Yuki Ishikawa's two consecutive attack points turned a 14-13 deficit into a 15-14 match point, but Taishi Onodera hit his serve into the net.
Roberto Russo then blocked Ishikawa's spike to earn the second match point for Italy and then ended Japan's Olympic tournament with a spike of his own.
"I couldn't finish the match in the end, so I feel responsible for this loss," said Ishikawa, who scored a match-high 32 points. "We let a win slip away. We continue to step up to compete well against the world's top teams."
"As for today, I had to score at some crucial points. I'm so upset."
Ishikawa has joined Italian powerhouse Perugia for the 2024-2025 season, his 10th in the country. Six members of the 12-man Japanese squad have played in overseas leagues, including Ran Takahashi and Yuji Nishida.
Japan carried momentum into the Olympic tournament as the 2024 Nations League runner-up to France.
"It was our dream to go to the semifinal. Right now we are sad, for me, particularly, it was the last match with Japan, so it is very sad," said Japan's French coach Philippe Blain.
"We can be proud of what we did on this court in the quarterfinal but you will always have regret that we (had) this match and the possibility to win it."
The Japanese team has an average height of 190 centimeters, making it the shortest of the eight quarterfinalists. Each of the seven other teams has an average height of at least 198 cm.
Alessandro Michieletto scored a team-high 24 points for Italy. Yuri Romano and Daniele Lavia followed with 19 points each.
"Being two sets down and trailing 24-21, I don't know how we were able to turn it around," Michieletto said. "We clung on by our fingernails and took the win. We had some luck, we did some things well. We didn't want to go home today."
Also on Monday, Poland defeated Slovenia 25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 25-20 to reach the semifinals for the first time since the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Later, France beat Germany 18-25, 26-28, 25-20, 25-21, 15-13 to reach the last four.
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