In their first match of this year's edition of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL 2025), the Japanese national team decisively defeated host China 3:0 (25:23, 25:14, 25:22). The match was played in Xi'an and marked not only the start of the tournament for both teams, but also the debut of one of the most iconic coaches in world volleyball -Laurent Tillieat the helm of Japan against an old acquaintance of Bulgaria -Vital Heynen,who has been the head coach of China since 2024.

🏐

Frenchman Laurent Tillie, former coach of the "Roosters" and Olympic champion from Tokyo 2020, began his tenure with the Japanese team in a categorical manner. His squad showed exceptional discipline and efficiency, especially in the elements ofserveanddefense, scoring6 acesagainst only 1 for China and dominating in defense with 45 successful digs against 38.

👑

The top scorer in the match wasMiyaurawith 13 points (all from attack), followed by captainTomita, who contributed 11 points, including 2 aces. The middle blocker Murayama also stood out with 6 attacks and 3 blocks at the highest efficiency of 33.33%. The collective stability of the Japanese was also evident in their almost flawless organization - 79 successful distributions, completely equal to those of China, but far more productive.

🏠

For the distinguished Belgian specialist Vital Heynen, this was his first official match at the helm of the Chinese team. Despite the home advantage and solid support in the hall, his team could not resist. The leadership of Jiang Chuan (9 points) and Yu Yuantai (9 points) was not enough. The Chinese allowed 24 points from their own errors, which significantly tipped the scales in favor of the opponent.

🔜

Bulgarian fans will have the opportunity to watch the Chinese team very soon in the third week of the VNLour national team will face them on July 18 inGdansk, Poland. Whether Heynen will manage to stabilize his team's performance by then and how we will respond to his tactics - remains to be seen.

photo:volleyballworld.com