Tokyo, July 20, 2006: Ace spiker Megumi Kurihara has been ruled out of Japan's entire FIVB World Grand Prix campaign this summer.
The 21-year-old Athens Olympian has fractured a bone in her left foot and will miss all three rounds of the Grand Prix, plus the Final Round in Italy from September 6-10 should Japan qualify.
The damage was revealed in an x-ray on May 9 after the national squad assembled following the end of the V.League season and other club commitments. Kurihara had reported pain in the foot while playing for her club team, Pioneer Red Wings, and did not travel with the national team for international tournaments in Switzerland and Italy in June.
Experts will check on her condition after the World Grand Prix before deciding if she will be fit for the World Championships, starting October 31.
The Japan Volleyball Association has named a squad of 14 players for the Grand Prix, starting with a home series against Cuba, Korea and Brazil from August 18-20.
The squad is: Kana Oyama, Yoshie Takeshita (captain), Megumi Itabashi, Miyuki Takahashi, Kaoru Sugayama, Makiko Horai, Sachiko Sugiyama, Midori Takahashi, Erika Araki, Saori Kimura, Shuka Oyama, Mari Ochiai, Akiko Ino, Yuki Ishikawa.
