Yuji Nishida scored a game-high 21 points as medal hopeful Japan beat Argentina 3-1 to grab its first win in the men's volleyball at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
Looking to end its 52-year absence from the Olympic podium, Japan bounced back from its five-set opening-match defeat to Germany by seeing off the South Americans 25-16, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23 at South Paris Arena to move up to second in Pool C.
Third in the latest world rankings, Japan lefty Nishida set the tone with five aces in his 10 opening-set points. Taishi Onodera, who notched 12 points in the match, helped his team come back from 16-9 down to snatch the second set before Nishida shone again in the fourth.
"I felt one win was really far away. It was a difficult game, but we've always fought through adversity," Nishida said. "I'm relieved to have come away with a win."
Eighth-ranked Argentina was led by Facundo Conte's 19 points and 16 from Bruno Lima but fell to its second straight defeat.
Japan next faces the United States, which beat Germany 3-2 on Tuesday to make it two wins from two. The top two ranked teams in each pool and the two best third-ranked teams qualify to the quarterfinals.
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