Yuki Ishikawa, a member of Japan's national volleyball team (Photo: AFRO) (Nittele NEWS)

Men's Volleyball: Japan rises to 5th place in the world ranking, gaining a lot of points with a victory over a strong nation.

Japan is currently competing in the Nations League. At the start of the tournament, the world ranking was 6th.

In the tournament, the team, led by captain Yuki Ishikawa, has been making great progress, going 10-2-2 in the preliminary round and winning straight games from Slovenia in the final round quarterfinals to advance to the Nations League semifinals for the first time in the Nations League.

Japan's first official win over Brazil in 30 years, as well as victories over powerhouses France and Slovenia, led to a significant increase in world ranking points.

Japan will face world No. 1 Poland in the semi-finals on March 23 (Japan time).

Source: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/3bd500898b4dcb70edf9f008b01bcc9e6ede1435