Kento Miyaura

Kento Miyaura
Personal information
Full nameKento Miyaura
NicknameKento
NationalityJapanese
Born (1999-02-22) 22 February 1999 (age 25)
Kumamoto, Japan
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight87 kg (192 lb)
Spike347 cm (137 in)
Block320 cm (130 in)
College / UniversityWaseda University
Volleyball information
PositionOpposite spiker
Current clubV.League JTEKT Stings
Number4 (national)
15 (club)
National team
2017–2018Japan U–19 team
2017Japan U–21 team
2019Japan U–23 team
2021–presentJapan senior national team
Medal record
Men's volleyball
Representing  Japan
FIVB Nations League
Silver medal – second place 2024 Łódź Team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Gdańsk Team
Asian Championship
Gold medal – first place 2023 Urmia Team
Silver medal – second place 2021 Chiba/Funabashi Team
Asian U23 Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Naypyidaw Team
FIVB U19 World Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Bahrain Team
Asian Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Taipei Team[1]
Asian Youth Championship
Gold medal – first place 2017 Naypyidaw Team

Kento Miyaura (宮浦 健人, born 22 February 1999) is a Japanese male volleyball player from Kumamoto City, on the island of Kyushu. Currently, he plays in V.League division 1 for JTEKT Stings. He used to be the captain of Japan U-19 team and Waseda University's club.[2][3][4]

Career

Elementary

Miyaura started playing volleyball in the second grade of elementary school. He was slender and lacked power, so he didn't get the opportunity to participate in the game until the 4th grade, where he still played as a substitute and was told, "You are not an ace".[4]

High School

He was asked to create a new junior-level club at Chinzei High School. At the time, there were just two players in the club, so they could not participate in any competitions, but he always practiced every day.

Then, in his senior high school years, he was bothered by an injury that forced him to leave the team. In his second year, he was assigned as captain of the team, but he often caused trouble for the team due to his lack of ability. That was a very hard time in his volleyball life, so he thought about quitting. As time passed, the hardships made him stronger. However, he and the team suffered from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, which closed their training gym. After a month, they had to find a new training place, but the environment was not good. So, as a result, the team won the runner-up place at the All Japan high school volleyball championship.

College

After high school graduation, Miyaura joined Waseda University. He was called to the Japan men's national under-19 volleyball team for the first time and later became captain of the team. In his second year, he considered himself stronger in physical terms, so he started to do weight training and communicated with the team's staff about injury prevention. Furthermore, he also changed his serving style from float serve to jump serve, adding more effectiveness to the team. In the next year, he became a big player on the team.[4] Miyaura was assigned to be a national representative at every junior level: the U-19 team and the U-21 team in 2017,[5][6] the U-23 team, and the Universiade team in 2019, respectively.[7][8][9]

In his final year in college, he was a captain and led the team to victory in the All Japan Intercollegiate Volleyball Championship, making Waseda University win this tournament five years consecutively.[4] Then, in the 2020–21 season, he joined the JTEKT Stings in V.League 1.[10][11]

Japan Men's National Team

Season 2021–22

In 2021, he was called up for the senior national team for the first time,[12][13] and his first competition as a senior is the 2021 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship.[14] The Japanese team finished as runners-up; he scored a total of 76 points and received the Best Opposite Spiker award.[15][16][17]

On October 15, he played his first full game in the V.League as part of the starting line-up against the JT Thunders, which JTEKT lost to in 4 sets with a 1–3 record.[18] He became a key player for the team since he helped the team score and became the top scorer in almost every match.

On January 16, 2022, JTEKT was in 7th place, and after losing in straight 5 matches, Miyaura helped the team win against the Toray Arrows in 4 sets, with a 3–1 record at home.[19][20] In this game, Miyaura became JTEkT's top scorer, recording 30 points, which later made him emotional.[21]

JTEKT Stings ended up in 7th place in the league. Miyaura was in 5th place in the top scorers category, the 1st among Japanese, with 651 points after finishing the final stage.[22]

Season 2022–23

Miyaura was back as a member of the Japanese National Team and went to compete in the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League. In the first week of the league, Miyaura scored 20 points in total, as he played as a starter against the United States, which Japan later lost to.[23][24] In almost the last match of the third week, Miyaura, as a starter, showed his abilities tallying 17 points in 15 attacks and 2 aces, which lead the team to a 4-set victory over Germany with a 1–3 record.[25]

On August 2, it was announced that he would be playing for the Polish Club PSG Stal Nysa in the 2022–2023 season.

In Japan's match against France in the VNL 2023, Miyaura played as a substitute, helping the team with a come from behind 4-set win against France with a 3–1 record, where with his high success rate in attacks and strong serve, scored 13 points in 10 attacks, 1 block, and 2 service aces.[26][27]

Season 2023—24

On June 16, Paris Volley announced that Kento Miyaura would join the club for the 2023–2024 season.[28]

Clubs

National teams

Awards

Individual

Club teams

References

  1. ^ "第6回アジアカップ". JVA.
  2. ^ "第11回アジアユース男子選手権大会(U-19)". JVA.
  3. ^ "第19回アジアジュニア男子選手権大会（U-20）". JVA.
  4. ^ a b c d "【連載】『令和２年度卒業記念特集』第２９回 宮浦健人／男子バレーボール" (in Japanese). wasedasports. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  5. ^ a b "第11回アジアユース男子選手権大会(U-19)-日本代表メンバー". JVA.
  6. ^ a b "第19回世界ジュニア男子選手権大会(U-21) -日本代表メンバー". jva.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  7. ^ a b "第3回アジアU23男子選手権大会出場選手" (PDF). JVA.
  8. ^ "第3回アジアU23男子選手権". JVA.
  9. ^ a b "第30回ユニバーシアード競技大会（2019/ナポリ）男子バレーボール競技 -日本代表メンバー". jva.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  10. ^ a b c "Kento Miyaura from FIVB". FIVB.
  11. ^ "卒業後の進路" (in Japanese). wasedavolley.org. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  12. ^ a b "2021年度男子日本代表チーム 選手・監督・スタッフ". JVA.
  13. ^ "男子バレー 初代表の福山汰一＆宮浦健人らが生き残りを懸けアピール" (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  14. ^ "第21回アジア男子選手権大会 - 日本代表メンバー" (in Japanese). jva.or.jp. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  15. ^ a b "DAILY BULLETIN No.8" (PDF). asianvolleyball.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-09-21. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  16. ^ "【バレー】男子日本代表・宮浦健人インタビュー「昨シーズンのアジア選手権に比べたらかなり成長をしていると思うので自信を持ってやりたい」" (in Japanese). Yahoo! Japan. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  17. ^ "男子バレー界の次世代エース オポジット宮浦健人 西田有志不在で現れた新星" (in Japanese). nishinippon.co.jp. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Breaking news of match results - Report B". vleague.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2021-10-18. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  19. ^ "試合会場レポート Report A" (in Japanese). JVA. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  20. ^ "試合結果速報 Report B" (in Japanese). JVA. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  21. ^ "男子バレー左の新エースはルーキー宮浦健人。ユース代表で控えだった西田有志の活躍に「僕も負けない」 - 【パリ五輪へ「現状維持ではいけない」】" (in Japanese). sportiva.shueisha.co.jp. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  22. ^ "総得点". vleague.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  23. ^ "FIVB Volleyball Nations League - Men P2 Match Result". fivb.org. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  24. ^ "【男子バレー】初スタメン宮浦健人が20得点も日本は２-３で米国に敗北。敵将も「非常に良いプレーをしていた」と賛辞！" (in Japanese). thedigestweb.com. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  25. ^ "FIVB Volleyball Nations League - Men P2 match result". fivb.org. FIVB. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  26. ^ "「誰にも止められない」"無双状態"の宮浦健人に海外識者も驚嘆！ 日本代表は五輪王者フランスに逆転勝利【男子バレーVNL】". THE DIGEST (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  27. ^ "バレーボール男子日本代表がポーランド破る 途中出場の宮浦健人が存在感発揮：中日スポーツ・東京中日スポーツ". 中日スポーツ・東京中日スポーツ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  28. ^ "日本代表の宮浦健人がフランスリーグ1部 パリバレーに入団". バレーボールマガジン (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  29. ^ "宮浦健人選手のバレー歴". jtekt-stings.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  30. ^ "Bahrain dominate - Japan and Iran post big wins opening day of Asian U20 volleyball" (PDF). newsofbahrain. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  31. ^ "Miyaura MVP". FIVB. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  32. ^ "早稲田主将・宮浦健人 4連覇がかかった未知数のインカレ「全てを出し尽くす」" (in Japanese). 4years. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  33. ^ "全日本インカレ「組織として日本一」を目指した早稲田大が4連覇を達成" (in Japanese). vbnext. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  34. ^ "令和2年度 天皇杯・皇后杯 全日本バレーボール選手権大会 ファイナルラウンド組み合わせ（男子）" (PDF) (in Japanese). tk2020.jva.or.jp. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  35. ^ "Men's final round -pdf.form A" (PDF) (in Japanese). tk2020.jva.or.jp. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  36. ^ "Men's final round -pdf.form B" (PDF) (in Japanese). tk2020.jva.or.jp. Retrieved 7 June 2021.

See also

Awards
Preceded by Best Opposite Spiker of
Asian Men's Volleyball Championship
2021 		Succeeded by
TBD