Hats off to the little Japanese girls

With an average height of only 1.75m, the Japanese girls looked completely dwarfed by the European representative, the Netherlands, in the quarter-finals of the Women's Volleyball World Championship.

Captain Ishikawa played extremely well, helping Japan come from behind to beat the Netherlands - Photo: FIVB

The Netherlands team is a head taller than Japan.

Do you know who is the tallest people in the world ? It is the Netherlands, with the average height of 20-year-old men being 1.84m, and 20-year-old women being 1.7m. They are the tallest for both men and women, and obviously far ahead of the Japanese.

Meanwhile, the average height of Dutch women (other ages are also just a little under 20) is 1.7m, completely surpassing Japan - with only 1.59m for women in their 20s.

That ethnic disparity is fully reflected on the volleyball court, and even amplified.

The average height of the Dutch women's volleyball team is 1.87m, among the tallest teams in the tournament. In contrast, the average height of the Japanese girls is only 1.75m, the shortest in the tournament.

Not yet over, in the last 2 games, coach Ferhat Akbas used a core lineup with modest height in the volleyball world.

Yoshino Sato (number 20) is considered one of the tallest in Japan, less than 1.8m - Photo: FIVB

They are captain Ishikawa - 1.74m tall, Wada - also 1.74m, Seki - 1.71m tall, Iwasawa - 1.62m and Kojima - a mere 1.59m. Only some blockers like Airi or Shimamura are taller than 1.8m.

The opponents of those small Japanese girls were a group of "poles" from the Netherlands, from Dambrink, Timmerman to Daalderop, Stuut... Except for the libero position, almost the entire main squad of the Netherlands was over 1.9m tall.

That means in many situations, the height difference between the Japanese and Dutch stars was... a whole head. Not only that, the taller the players, the longer their arm and leg spans were. Sometimes the difference in arm and leg span between the two sides was up to 3 inches.

Because of that great distance, fans often have to sigh for the small Japanese girls.

If only they had a "pole" like Zhu Ting, like Yuan Xinyue (2.03m tall), or at least like Li Yingying, Japan would easily defeat the Netherlands.

In terms of class, the two teams were similar, leading to a dramatic 5-game match. The Netherlands took the lead twice, and Japan struggled to get back the points twice.

At one point in the fourth game, the Netherlands established a gap of more than 3 points. Then at the beginning of the fifth game, the Netherlands pulled away again, leading by more than 3 points.

Those were the moments when Asian volleyball fans felt sorry for the Japanese girls. They were at a disadvantage against opponents who were almost a head taller.

Super defense

But that is probably a superfluous emotion. Throughout the 5-6 decades of strong volleyball development, the Japanese have never been afraid of the height issue.

It's hard to believe, but the total number of points scored by the Netherlands from attacks throughout the match was only 61. In contrast, Japan had 75 points.

The Netherlands completely dominated in terms of blocking points, 11 to 3, which was understandable as they were taller and more dominant than their opponents.

Ishikawa is a complete offensive and defensive player - Photo: FIVB

But there is one point that the Netherlands, and perhaps most of the world's top volleyball teams, have to admit defeat to the Japanese, and that is their amazing ability to save the ball.

During the match, the Netherlands had 108 successful saves, while Japan had 127. It was their ability to save the ball that helped Japan come back to win 3-2.

In volleyball, spiking the ball is like kicking in soccer, it brings a sense of satisfaction.

And correspondingly, the saves can be compared to the defender's tackles, or the goalkeeper's flying saves, giving a "terrifying" feeling.

Japanese girls make the world admire again - Photo: FIVB

A novice volleyball player will enjoy the spikes, the way the ball is fed to a "pole" that bounces, bounces, and bounces. Similar to the eye-catching, rushing attack of soccer.

But don’t be fooled. Both offense and defense are equally important. At 1.75m tall, the Japanese can’t play the kind of dribbling, dribbling style of Western teams.

Instead, they have developed a brand of defense, a style of play that perfectly suits the Japanese national character. It is tenacity, perseverance, and courage in the most important moments.

Even when they were down 1-2, then down 3 points in a row in the 4th and 5th games, Japan still persistently defended, waiting for the opponent to make a mistake.

And once again, the petite Japanese girls showed the volleyball world that they have countless ways to overcome their height problem.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nga-mu-truoc-nhung-co-gai-nhat-ban-nho-be-20250903201453389.htm