Bulgaria managed to resist Japan in their second friendly match against coach Tille's squad, played again in front of a full house at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Our team even took the lead, but in the end, the hosts (world No. 5) made a comeback and celebrated a win after a tie-break – 3:2 (25:18, 23:25, 21:25, 25:17, 15:10). Thus, the overall balance of matches played so far is now in favor of the "Samurai." The first friendly match, held a day earlier, ended with a convincing 3:0 for Japan, who also won the agreed-upon additional fourth set.
Compared to the first match, coach Gianlorenzo Blengini made one change to the starting lineup – Martin Atanasov started instead of Georgi Tatarov and remained on the court for the entire match, finishing with 9 points.

The rest of the starting six included: Alex Grozdanov, Simeon Nikolov, Iliya Petkov, Aleksandar Nikolov, and libero Damyan Kolev.

First Set

Japan started with the following lineup: Maki Oya (setter), Kento Miyaura (opposite), Ran Takahashi and Yuki Ishikawa (outside hitters), Shunichiro Sato and Keigo Nishimoto (middle blockers), Tomohiro Ogawa (libero).

After a Bulgarian serve, the Japanese took a 4:1 lead thanks to two consecutive aces by Miyaura. Nishimoto added another serve that dropped right behind the net (ace) for 7:3. A series of successful attacks by Ishikawa and Miyaura led to a 13:5 advantage. Bulgaria scored four points back at 14:6, but a brilliant one-handed defense by Ishikawa again restored the initiative – 16:10.

Substitute Yuto Kai contributed an ace and helped secure four consecutive points – 22:16. Ultimately, Miyaura ended the set with an attack – 25:18 for Japan.

Second Set

Onodera appeared in Japan's lineup in place of Sato. The Bulgarians started more aggressively and took a 7:4 lead. Takahashi narrowed the gap with a back-row attack – 8:9, but a block against Miyaura at 11:13 allowed our team to maintain the advantage.

At 16:18, it was Miyaura's turn to serve again, but this time he made a mistake. Bulgaria maintained control and reached their first set point at 21:24. The Japanese saved two balls in defense and narrowed the gap to 23:24, but Miyaura's serve went out – 25:23 for Bulgaria and a tie in the match.

Third Set

Japan changed their libero – Yamamoto instead of Ogawa, and Larry replaced Nishimoto. The start was strong – a series of six consecutive points for 7:3 after a block by Miyaura and an attack by Takahashi.

Miyaura added two aces for 11:6, and Takahashi scored with a back-row attack for 15:11. Gradually, however, the Bulgarians returned to the set and equalized at 16:16 after a block against Miyaura. A turnaround followed – 17:20 for Bulgaria after three consecutive blocks against Japanese attackers.

Our team reached set point at 20:24, and a serving error by the Japanese closed the set – 25:21 for Bulgaria.

Fourth Set

Japan came out with an almost entirely new lineup: Otsuka, Nishiyama, Larry, Sato, setter Eiro, and outside hitter Kai. The game went point for point until 5:4, but a run by Kai and Nishiyama brought a 7:5 lead.

Otsuka, who returned after elbow surgery, showed strong play with attack and block – 14:9. Subsequently, Nishiyama scored an ace and extended the lead to 20:13. The Bulgarians could not recover, and at 24:17, our serve went out – 25:17 for Japan. The match went into a tie-break.
Preslav Petkov entered Bulgaria's lineup in place of captain Alex Grozdanov, but even this did not change the result.

Tie-break

The Japanese maintained the same lineup they finished the fourth set with, with Yuto Kai and Daisho Nishiyama again active from the start. The hosts started better and took the lead, and in the decisive phase, Tatsunobu Otsuka contributed with a powerful attack for 11:6.

Bulgaria attempted a comeback and reduced the score to 11:8, but Kai found a breakthrough with a block-out for 12:8, stopping the opponent's momentum. An error from our team on serve increased the lead to 14:10 and brought the first match point.

Ultimately, Kai finished with a back-row attack, making it 15:10 in the tie-break. Thus, Japan won the match 3:2 sets.

Aleksandar Nikolov was again the top scorer with 24 points (55% attack efficiency, 1 ace, 1 block). Asparuh Asparuhov added 12 points, Iliya Petkov finished with 11 points (incl. 1 ace and 3 blocks).

Bulgaria continues its preparation for the World Championship in the Philippines (September 12–28), moving to Hiroshima on September 7. There, the national team will play two more friendly matches – against the USA on September 8 and 9.

photos: Fumiya Kojima and BFV