Yuji Nishida (西田 有志, Nishida Yūji, born (2000-01-30)30 January 2000) is a Japanese left-handed volleyball player. As of July 2024, Nishida plays for Panasonic Panthers at club level.
Nishida made his debut with JTEKT Stings at V.League on 6 January 2018 in a match against Sakai's Osaka Blazers Sakai. His impressive debut at the young age of 17 soon earned him a position in JTEKT's starting six,[5] as well as on Japan men's national volleyball team. Nishida led the national team to seventh place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, its best result in 29 years.
Nishida was one of the youngest players in the 2018 roster of the Japan men's national volleyball team and FIVB cup Final.[6] He made his first international performance with the Japanese national team in 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League. In June 2018, he played a pivotal role in securing Japan's first win in 11 years against Italy where he collected 24 points from 21 spikes and 3 aces.[7] In September 2018, in a match against Argentina in 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, Nishida became the youngest player ever to score 30 points in a match.[8] In June 2019, Nishida broke serving records in the VNL history after hitting 7 aces in a single game during a match against Bulgaria.[9]
Nishida transferred to play for Volley Callipo in the Italian Volleyball League for the 2021–22 season.[10][11][12] He thrice received MVP of the match awards in spite of an injury and subsequent two-month recovery. Nishida would become the highest scorer of his team, with a personal one-match record of 29 points, and held the record for the most aces in one match during the league's first round of the 2021/22 season with eight aces.[13][14]
Career
Elementary school years
Nishida first started playing volleyball due to his elder sister and brother both playing the game, and joined the same team as his brother, the "Daian Beetles."
While being fascinated by the Olympics, his attention was caught by Kunihiro Shimizu, a left-handed "opposite" like him who inspired him to want to compete in the Olympics.
In his sixth year of elementary school, he became the captain and led the team to win the President's Cup of Mie Prefecture Club Volleyball Federation
Middle school years
After graduation, he went to a local junior high (middle school) which was not a powerhouse.
Nishida had the opportunity to participate in Kaisei High School's volleyball club practice in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture as he was a regular player since freshman year. His play there caught the attention of Masanobu Onishi, the volleyball team manager at that time, and Katsunari Fujita, the head of the team. In June of the same year, he joined the junior high school club team 'NFO Ocean Star', recommended by Fujita.
In March 2013, Nishida was selected for the U-14 team in the Hokusei district of Mie Prefecture. In August of the same year, he was selected for the Mie Prefecture selection team and competed with teams from all over Japan in the Junior Olympic Cup held in December.
High school years
He chose to decline the powerhouses in his prefectures and chose to go to Kaisei High School which had never qualified for the national volleyball tournament.[15] He later joined the newly established U-19 of the local club team Vertian Mie. In June, they won the U-19 boys division of the Mie Prefecture Young Volleyball Championship, and in September, they won the national championship. Nishida received the Japan Young Club Volleyball Federation Award as an outstanding player in that tournament.
Just as he had done in junior high school, Nishida practiced with three different teams and went on to compete in the Mie Prefectural High School Championship (Haruko Preliminaries) in November.[16]
He was called up to the Senior National team for the first time in April of age at 18. Nishida made his senior national team debut on May 25 2018, in a Nations League match in Rouen, France. He was named a starter in that match against Australia.
In April 2019, Yuji Nishida was selected to represent Japan for the second year in a row.
The following October, the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup was held in Japan. He was awarded "Best server" and "Best opposite" for his impressive performances.[21]
Nishida went on to lead his team to their first V.League title. Nishida ranked 1st in the "High Scorer" and "Serve Effectiveness Rate" categories as well as being league MVP.[22][23][24]
2020/21 season
In February 2020, Nishida was named on Japan's national team roster.[25]
On April 5, 2021, Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) announced the Japanese National Team roster for 2021, where Nishida was named as part of the 25-man provisional roster.[26]
In the "2021 Volleyball Men's National Team Red and White Match", an intra-team scrimmage between the players of the Japanese National Team, Nishida was named as a starting player of the red team.[27][28] Early on in the first set, Nishida's right ankle was injured after he landed awkwardly from blocking. Unable to walk by himself, he was carried from the court and was taken to the hospital. After an X-ray scan, the head coach of the team reported that Nishida had no fractures and had been diagnosed with a sprain on the right ankle.[29][30][31]
Nishida was again named in the Japanese National Team squad for the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League where the competition would be held in Rimini, Italy, although he had not fully recovered yet at this point.[32][33] He returned in the third week of the tournament for the match against Poland as a substitute and returned to the starting line up in the match against Bulgaria.[34]
On June 21, Japan Volleyball Association announced the Japanese National Team roster for 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where Nishida was once again selected as a member of the starting line-up.[35] He became the first player of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to break the 30–point scoring mark in the men's division and was the tenth player, and first Japanese player, since the introduction of the rally scoring system.[36][37][38]
On November 21, in the match against Volley Lube, he injured his left calf early in the second set, which took him off the court.[39][40][41]
Nishida was side-lined for two months before returning on January 12 in a match against Gas Sales Blueenergy Piacenza.
In March 2022, it was reported that at the end of the season that Nishida would return to the V.League in Japan.[42]
2022/23 season
On April 4, 2022, the Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) announced the 2022 Japanese roster for competing in Nations League, Asian Games and World Championship. Nishida was named amongst the 35-player roster not joining the team in the 2021 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship tournament the previous year, due to his preparation for Italian league and subsequent injury. His national team jersey number changed from No.11 to No.1.[43]
At the Nations League, Nishida scored the highest of the Japanese team and the third highest in the first round with 201 points, including 162 attacks, 10 blocks and 29 aces. He delivered 28 points in a victory after a full set match over Italy on June 24, 2022, advancing to the quarter-finals of the tournament.[46][47] Nishida and the Japanese team then faced France which they lost in a 3–0 set, eliminating them from the competition, placing fifth overall.[48]
On August 26, the Japanese team played their first match in the 2022 World Championship against Qatar where they won in three straight sets. Nishida contributed 17 points, including 4 blocks. In the next two games, Japanese team faced against Brazil and Cuba in which they lost and won, respectively.[49] With a record of 2-1, Japan placed second behind Brazil in the group stages and Japan advanced to the final round for the first time since 2006. They were matched up against France, the 2020 Olympics and the Nations League gold medallists, in the round of 16 where they eventually lost 3-2 after a tough contest. Nishida finished with a total of 31 points, the highest of all the players on both teams. The result eliminated Japan from the tournament, finishing at 12th place.[50][51]
Two weeks after the 2022-23 V.League season began, Nishida came down with an unknown illness which caused him to miss three weeks at the start of the season with a continuous high fever. During this time, Nishida underwent multiple medical tests which all came back inconclusive. Nishida began to wonder "Will I able to play volleyball this year with JTEKT?" as he explained in a later announcement about his extended absence from competition. Fortunately, all the symptoms gradually disappeared and Nishida was cleared play volleyball again. After his return, Nishida was able to lead his team to win the 2022 Emperor's Cup title in three straight sets against Toray Arrows.[52]
In 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League, Nishida joined the team with 14 games which won 12 consecutive games and advanced to the final round after placing second in the preliminary round.[54] Yuji had an injury at his back which made him a substitute for Japan, as Kento Miyaura, the other Japanese left-handed opposite, led the team in the semi-final against Poland and third place game against Italy[55][56][57] Eventually, Japanese team took the first bronze medal ever after won Italy with a full set match.[58][59]
In August, Asian Championship, the Japanese team won its 10th title in the competition defeating Iran in straight sets.[60][61]
In the 2023–24 V.League, Yuji and his team finished 3rd in the regular season standings.[65][66] In the final they faced the Suntory Sunbirds, and although Yuji was not a starting player but he put in a solid performance and scored 18 points.[67] However, the Panthers were beaten 3-0 and finished with silver medals.[68]
2024/25 season
In April 2024, the JVA announced the national team roster for 2024 international tournaments, Yuji was selected for the 6th consecutive season.[69][70]
In June, the Panthers announced their squad for the 2024–25 season and confirmed that Yuji will continue to play at the club and in jersey number 11.[71]
In the 2024 VNL, he led the team to finish 4th in the preliminary rounds with 9 wins and 3 losses. They then defeated Canada and Slovenia in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively. The Japanese team advanced to the finals match for the first time in VNL history. They played France in the final succumbing to a 1–3 sets loss. They finished 2nd and took home the silver medal, the highest finish for the team in this tournament and the first silver medal in any major international tournament since 1977.[72][73][74]
Nishida started playing volleyball after watching his sister playing the sport. He listed watching movies and shopping as his hobbies. He has an elder sister 8 years older than him and a brother 6 years older than him.[15] In an interview, he said his idol is Yūki Ishikawa, Masahiro Yanagida,[79]Michal Kubiak and Hiroaki Asano.[80]
In 2020, Nishida announced a partnership with Asics, a Japanese multinational corporation which produces sports equipment, through product promotions and advertisement.[81]
In February 2021, Nishida had entered a sports sponsorship agreement with Zamst [ja], a brand of athletic braces and care products.[82][83] In October 2021, it was announced that Nishida had signed a partnership with CLEVER, Japanese protein brand.[84]
He started his own Youtube Channel on December 6, 2020, surpassing 100,000 subscribers in six months. Nishida established his personal apparel brand, Crazy Jump, which was launched to the public in August, 2022.[citation needed]
On December 31, 2022, Nishida announced through his Instagram that he had married fellow volleyball player Sarina Koga.[85]
In April 2023, he reached 1 million followers on his Instagram account.[86]
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