Katsutoshi nekoda biography of william

After taking bronze in 1964 and silver in 1968, Japan finally won the gold for men's event in 1972, but in order to defeat the physically stronger team of Easter Europe, Japan had to come up with a true revolution.

The core of this revolution is to be found in one of the greatest setters this sport has ever witnessed: Katsutoshi Nekoda.

His accuracy and speed in the setting, both unseen before his debut with the Nipponese team, gave him the name of “Nakoda calculator of Japan.”

The Japanese team realised that if they wanted to stand a chance against the Soviet giants and their colleagues of German Democratic Republic and Bulgaria, they needed to find a way to spike with no blockers or one at most.

At a time when the best teams in the world were relying on their players’ height and power, setters were asked to set high and clean balls mostly to zone two and four -the two “sides” of the net in the front line.

It was then