TEAM COMPOSITION

In 2011, Japan were boosted by the return of Daisuke Usami, the team’s experienced setter and captain who missed almost a year because of an ankle injury. He came back following the 2010 FIVB Men’s World Championship just in time to compete at the Guangzhou Asian Games in November 2010. His inspiration led the team to gold after beating Korea in the semifinals and Iran in the final.

The 2011 FIVB World League was a challenging one for Tatsuya Ueta's team as they had to play all 12 of their matches away from home due to the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Japan's eventual record was not encouraging, with their sole win coming against Germany in a group that also featured Bulgaria and Russia. A couple of weeks ahead of the Asian Championship in September, they lost their most effective outside spiker, Kunihiro Shimizu, who damaged knee ligaments. With their confidence dented, they lost in the quarterfinals, having been beaten by India, Iran and Korea.

Ueta worked hard to reinvigorate his squad but they failed to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games on their first attempt at last year’s World Cup, finishing 10th. However, they come into the 2012 season with confidence.

Tatsuya Ueta became Japan coach in 2004, immediately after the squad failed to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. A player for Nippon Steel Blazers in 1987 he went on to represent Japan from 1989 to 1993 before going into coaching in 1995. He became coach of the junior national team in 2001. His best result with the senior side is a bronze medal at the 2009 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup however more recently he took the team to 15th in last year’s World League and 10th at the World Cup as well as a fifth place finish at the Asian Men’s Championship.