Tokyo, October 27, 2006: Japan's head coach, Tatsuya Ueta, has named his 12-strong group for the men’s World Championships, which start November 17.
Ueta’s squad includes plenty of attacking power with the likes of Yu Koshikawa, Yusuke Ishijima, southpaw spiker Takahiro Yamamoto and captain Masaji Ogino. The 36-year-old skipper missed the 2006 World League campaign due to a hand injury but returns to lead his team in a tough Pool A, based at Saitama Super Arena.
Japan will open against Egypt before facing China, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Poland in their bid for a top-four finish to advance to the second round.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Ueta acknowledged it would be hard to get out of the group, but was happy with all aspects of preparation.
“Last year we won the Asian Championship, and this time we are aiming to go up to a higher level,” said Ueta.
“The strong point of this team is that they are ready to play long matches. They are in good condition and will never give up. They will always come back.”
Ishijima, who joined the national team this year, returned to Japan recently from a short stint playing in Brazil.
“The height and the speed is different over there, so I was learning all the time. You will see in the tournament if I have improved,” said the player nicknamed “Gottsu”.
Ogino said it was Japan’s goal to finish in the top eight of the 24-team championship, while crowd favourite Koshikawa said the team would do well if everybody did their job and performed at their peak.
“If I can serve at my best and do everything well, I can bring a good flow to our game. I will give 100 per cent for this,” said the powerful jump server.
The 12 players are: Nobuharu Saito, Shinya Chiba, Kenji Onoue, Ryuji Naohiro, Takahiro Yamamoto, Masaji Ogino, Kota Yamamura, Yuta Abe, Katsutoshi Tsumagari, Yusuke Ishijima, Yu Koshikawa, Kosuke, Tomonaga.
