VNL 2026: Tournament in Linyi continues – 3 points for Ukraine, Japan stun Poland!

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Japan handed defending Volleyball Nations League champions Poland a second straight defeat, edging them 3-2 (25:21, 21:25, 25:21, 22:25, 17:15) in a thrilling battle in Linyi, China.
After falling to Slovenia a day earlier, Poland again came up short in a tie-break, under the blow of Japanese star Ran Takahashi, who delivered a match-winning performance scoring a match-high 26 points through 62% success rate in attack two aces, both in the fifth set, well supported by Kento Miyaura who added 16 points, Tatsunori Otsuka with 15, and Akihiro Yamauchi with 12. For Poland, Aliaksei Nasevich led the charge with 24 points, while Bartlomiej Lemanski added 16.
The defeat also had major implications in the FIVB World Rankings, as Poland lost enough points to surrender the world No. 1 position to reigning world champions Italy.

“Oh, I am so tired!” said Takahashi’s after the game, “We played at a high level and so did they, so it was a perfect game, a great match! We always stayed focused. Of course, tomorrow it is going to be another tough game (against China), for sure. So, again, we will have to stay focused and just play our volleyball.”

On a 2-0 win-loss record and 5 points, Japan occupy fifth place in the current VNL standings, while Poland are down to seventh on 1-2 and 5.

Earlier on the same Pool, Ukraine continued their good start with a convincing 3-0 (25:21, 25:20, 25:16) victory over Cuba, improving to 2-1, while Cuba remains without a set win so far. Ukraine’s outside hitters Illa Kovalov and Dmytro Yanchuk led the team with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Cuba’s opposite Alejandro Gonzalez emerged as the best scorer of the match with 14 points.

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🏐| FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2026 | Games of the day

— Friday | June 12, 2026 —

👉🏼 Pool 3 – Week 1 – Linyi 🇨🇳
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Ukraine – Cuba 3-0 (25:21, 25:20, 25:16)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Japan – Poland 3-2 (25:21, 21:25, 25:21, 22:25, 17:15)

| Pool 2 – Week 1 – Brasilia 🇧🇷
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Belgium – Serbia 1-3 (18:25, 26:24, 21:25, 22:25)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Iran – Argentina 3-0 (25:23, 25:19, 25:23)

| Pool 1 – Week 1 – Ottawa 🇨🇦
• 16.00 (Local Time) | Germany – USA 0-3 (22:25, 15:25, 20:25)
• 19.30 (Local Time) | Türkiye – France 3-0 (25:23, 27:25, 25:21)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. USA 6
2. Serbia 6
3. Brazil 6
4. Ukraine 6
5. Japan 5
6. Poland 5
7. Slovenia 4
8. Italy 4
9. Canada 4
10. Bulgaria 3
11. Türkiye 3
12. Belgium 3
13. Iran 3
14. France 2
15. Germany 2
16. China 1
17. Argentina 0
18. Cuba 0

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🏐| NEXT GAMES

— Saturday | June 13, 2026 —

| Pool 3 – Week 1 – Linyi 🇨🇳
• 16.30 (Local Time) | China – Japan
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Cuba – Slovenia

| Pool 2 – Week 1 – Brasilia 🇧🇷
• 11.00 (Local Time) | Brazil – Serbia
• 15.30 (Local Time) | Bulgaria – Argentina

| Pool 1 – Week 1 – Ottawa 🇨🇦
• 16.00 (Local Time) | Canada – USA
• 19.30 (Local Time) | Türkiye – Italy

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