Japan vs Iran Epic Volleyball Battle Highlights

Nishida, serving for the first time today. That's a good service. Milad was caught. Lovely pick-up by Rad. That's put over on the first ball. A set-back with interest by Rad. What a great first touch. And then... Excellent play from Japan. Salehi comes from backcourt. About six feet in old money. They're back under way following the challenge. Lovely dig and the touch by Nishida. Back on the side of Iran. And another one! Sikhita! Nishida! Superb now. Was it touched? Here's the captain. But put away! Zelve on the end of it. Can they keep this consistency of volleyball throughout the set and indeed the match? Finds Rad this time. Nishida! He tends as well. Sometimes looks like he's hitting it on the up. Milad. Nice pass. Amin. And the pick-up. Outstanding. Sikhita. Nishida. That is quality Libra work. What can Milad do? Sikhita! Crazy volleyball from start to finish. And look at that. Sikhita with the block on Milad. He has snuck in his... Blocking. That is one for the highlights reel. We've had a few today. And of course by Japan. This time on Amin. Put in there. Salehi! On the pipe. And Iran just reminding the 8,000 here that there are two teams playing. Iran not feeling tested yet. At this point. The next couple. The one-handed set didn't quite come off. Back the same way. And it works the second time. Nishida. Back off the bench. Back on the score sheet. Cross-court has wrapped with a good touch. Salehi. Off the hands. Sikhita. To the tee! Sikhita with a glance to see what the block was doing. There he goes. As a look. Where's Chalvet? You're in front of me. Great. I'm going to send it behind. Sikhita with the first jump serve of the second set. Away we go. To the middle. And the dig is world-class. Ishikawa. Off the hands. Ogawa gets out of the way. Oh, that's a lovely touch as well. Milad. What a rally to start with. Salehi. Fed in again. To the middle. The block. Good. What a pick-up by Ran. Flat in. Now advantage Iran. Amin to finish the job here. But it's not the green light to actually go and miss every time. Ran. Brilliant block. That is huge from Chalvet. They're just waiting for that. They had no intention at all of going with the middle. They completely ignored it. Nice sidestep. Mohamed. On Ishikawa. Flat in. Ogawa. Sikhita. Ishikawa! What a man! Oh, it's big! Pick up a break point. Ogawa force-wide. Ogawa bumps that back to him. The windmill again. Doesn't work. To get back up. Now's the chance for the break point. Amin. Put it down! The green card. That's correct, right? Well, no, I thought the whole point is, no, we're going to go to challenge and then you go, no, I touched it. Okay, well done. Right, we've saved the chance of going to challenge. Here we go. Salehi chases back. Gets a good hand on it. Milad sends it over. Ogawa. Oh, he cleaned his hands before that. So he can deliver that ball, but they can't put it down. Milad, the captain, can only find the block. Ogawa. Sikhita. On Odira. Brilliant point and a big point as well to put Japan back ahead. Fabulous play. He's been really good on Odira. Ogawa. Oh, Sikhita. Superb. What a set. Ishikawa does the rest, but it was a real loose pass from Ogawa. But that man, little stroke of genius. Got to 20. Five more for a two-set lead. Salehi receives. Turned on the block. Amin. Ogawa with the jump set. Oh, Nishida. Nishida's magic. This is just so good. The set's great. Looking like a big hill for Iran to climb now. 18-22. Another good service. Sends Salehi backwards. He gets that big bump set. Can't quite squeeze it through. Sikhita offers up the free ball to the middle. There you go. Shelves says, yes, please. Sikhita goes and then down from Yamauchi. His speed is exceptionally so quick in the air. You have a look on the replay. Just watch what Iran's block is or rather is. Must win set now for Iran. Good start. Nishida bruises Hazrat. Yamauchi. Sikhita's there. Nishikawa over on the second ball. Salehi. Oh, I tell you what. Against this Japanese team, if you're going on the first ball, you better be sure. Yeah, there's no guarantee. Sikhita after searching for that one. Nishida on hand. Ashida outrageous reflexes. Benishikawa. Ogawa. Nishida. Outstanding. And not only that because Nishida was complaining that two players touched the ball at once. He was calling for a double and then it's suddenly on him and he's had to go for a go. Look, watch. He was calling for a play. It's off him. Wonderful team. And what a bad finish finding the gap between the blockers. Sikhita. A bit more on that. Milad receives. One of those valuable touches. Oh, yes. Ishikawa. Is that kindness a showy off it? I don't think it does really but it is just incredible. Look at this angle. Salehi's like, oh, that is wonderful. Zfandiar receives. That was very nice. Right in his hitting window. Gap between the blockers. Zfandiar. That's a great swing. He's a good player, Zfandiar. He's had a few back issues over the years which has kind of kept him out. Vardy. That went on to run. Nishida. Oh, what a pick up. Oh, man. Outstanding. But Nishida goes again and he won't miss the second time. Zfandiar receives. Brilliant by run. Now Nishida to finish the job. The touch by Barbast. Salehi. Oh, I think Ishikawa took his hands away. Yuki Ishikawa. A service. First one of the match. And it's a beauty. At last, the corridor of uncertainty has been entered. It was a massive footfall. Absolutely massive footfall when Barbast hit that ball. It's OK.