After ten matches, the regular season for the Japanese men’s championship ended last weekend.
The playoff phase will feature the top four teams after 36 rounds of play: WolfDogs Nagoya, Suntory Sunbirds, Panasonic Panthers, and Osaka Sakai Blazers. The Final-4 playoffs will use a round-robin format where teams earn starting points based on their ranking (3 points for 1st, 2 points for 2nd, 1 point for 3rd, and 0 points for 4th). The top two teams will advance to the Grand Finals, which will be a single match scheduled for Sunday, April 23rd.
March 25, 2023:
Wolf Dogs Nagoya vs Toray Arrows 3-1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19)
Panasonic Panthers vs Suntory Sunbirds 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-19)
Sakai Blazers vs Tokyo Great Bears 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-16, 26-24)
JT Thunders vs JTEKT Stings 0-3 (22-25, 17-25, 19-25)
VC Nagano vs Oita Miyoshi 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 28-26)
March 26, 2023
Wolf Dogs Nagoya vs Toray Arrows 2-3 (23-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 14-16)
Panasonic Panthers vs Suntory Sunbirds 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-18)
Sakai Blazers vs Tokyo Great Bears 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-17)
JT Thunders vs JTEKT Stings 1-3 (25-21, 19-25, 22-25, 23-25)
VC Nagano vs Oita Miyoshi 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-16, 25-20)
STANDINGS
1. Wolfdogs Nagoya
2. Suntory Sunbirds
3. Panasonic Panthers
4. Sakai Blazers
5. Toray Arrows
6. JTEKT Stings
7. JT Thunders
8. Tokyo GreatBears
9. VC Nagano
10. Oita Miyoshi
Final Four
April 8, 2023
Wolfdogs Nagoya vs Sakai Blazers
Suntory Sunbirds vs Panasonic Panthers
April 9, 2023
Wolfdogs Nagoya vs Suntory Sunbirds
Panasonic Panthers vs Sakai Blazers
April 16, 2023
Wolfdogs Nagoya vs Panasonic Panthers
Suntory Sunbirds vs Sakai Blazers
