Yuji
Nishida
Japan
·
Volleyball
Date of birth | 30 January 2000 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Inabe, Japan |
Age | 26 |
Nationality | Japan |
Career start | 2018 |
Discipline | Volleyball (Indoor) |
In sixth grade, left-handed volleyball player Yuji Nishida became the captain of his team and led them to win the President's Cup of Mie Prefecture Club Volleyball Federation. A few years later, Nishida practised with three different teams and went on to compete in the Mie Prefectural High School Championship
Making history early in his career
Nishida debuted at V-League level with JTEKT Stings in 2018. His debut at 17 landed him a spot in JTEKT's starting six and on Japan's men's national volleyball team. The same year, in a match against Argentina at the 2018 World Championships, Nishida became the youngest player to score 30 points.
During the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup, he was awarded Best Server and Best Opposite for his impressive performances.
Olympic déjà vu and club switches
Nishida led the national team to seventh place in Tokyo in 2020, their best result in 29 years. Nishida transferred to play for Volley Callipo in the Italian Volleyball League for the 2021–22 season, receiving MVP of the match awards three times, even while injured. He returned JTEKT Stings the following season.
Having transferred to Osaka Bluteon at club level in 2023, Nishida then went on to once again help Japan to seventh place in Paris in 2024, before announcing a year's break from national duties to assist with his recovery from a chronic injury.