Kobe, Japan, 24 October 2025 – Following the successful start of the women’s regular season two weeks ago, OSAKA BLUTEON welcomed the 2024/25 champions, SUNTORY SUNBIRDS OSAKA, today at the newly opened Glion Arena Kobe for its opening match of Japan’s premier volleyball league – DAIDO LIFE SV.LEAGUE MEN. BLUTEON marked a historic milestone with a club-record attendance of 9,113 spectators, defeating SUNTORY 3–1 (23–25, 25–21, 26–24, 25–20).

The match began with a fierce exchange of attacks between both teams’ ace hitters. BLUTEON relied on its new setter, Brizard Antoine (FRA), a Paris 2024 Olympic gold medalist, who skillfully set up Yuji Nishida (JPN) and Miguel Ángel López Castro (JPN) to score repeatedly. SUNTORY, led by Ran Takahashi (JPN) and Dmitry Muserskiy (RUS), responded with powerful plays. The set remained tight until 23–23, but two consecutive spikes by López Castro went out of bounds, allowing SUNTORY to claim the first set.

In the second set, BLUTEON took the lead early and maintained momentum throughout. Akihiro Yamauchi (JPN) excelled with attacks from the center, while Brizard Antoine (FRA) scored himself with a surprise back attack. BLUTEON took the set 25–21.

The third set was a back-and-forth battle. BLUTEON led 15–11 before SUNTORY called a timeout, after which the defending champions mounted a comeback. Takahashi’s thunderous back attacks, Muserskiy’s spikes, and Dearmas Alain (CUB)’s service ace tied the score. SUNTORY reached set point first, but Alain’s service error gave BLUTEON a lifeline, and they capitalized to win 26–24. The fourth set saw BLUTEON dominate from start to finish, with Masato Kai (JPN) sealing the victory with a service ace.

Tuomas Sammelvuo, Head Coach, OSAKA BLUTEON
“Of course, very happy for the victory. Very happy for our players because we had a chance also to take the first set that we didn't and we lost that. But after that, we started to play better and better and got the control of the game and managed to win, so happy for the reaction and the focus and calmness after the loss. And also, the third set was not so good, but we managed to win, and that was really important. When we managed to push Suntory's reception off the net, we were quite good organized and disciplined in block and defense.”

Brizard Antoine (FRA), Setter, OSAKA BLUTEON:
“I won't tell you my plan because we have a game to play tomorrow. Then, yeah, I can do a lot of things in my game, so it's what I did today. I still didn't block so good, so I'll do way better in this. I was surprised by the gym first of all, the quality of the arena and then it was crowded. So for me in Europe, it's really not common to see one regular season game, a full house like that in such a gym. So it was a nice moment. Congrats by the club and organization also to organize this kind of event. It's not common.”

Olivier Lecat (FRA), Head Coach, SUNTORY SUNBIRDS OSAKA:
“It was really important for us to start in the same mood, but this preparation is too long, at the end of the preparation we had some short injury, so we don't have too much effort. It was almost our first game with the full team from Perugia, so it was interesting to see how the team fight together tonight against one of the top teams of the SV League. There was no comparison with the opening game of last season, the level was really high, the fight was really high, the service and pass was really important today, so we have to check for tomorrow. It was the first match of the season for both teams, so it was a difficult match, but both teams had a high level match, and the pass and serve were difficult, but we had a high level match.”

Ran Takahashi (JPN), Ouside Hitter, SUNTORY SUNBIRDS OSAKA:
“There’s definitely frustration about not being able to win today, but at the same time, there were also some positives for us as a team. We were able to clearly identify the areas we need to work on, and the most important thing now is to make sure we win tomorrow. This is one of the stages in the process of building our team, and I want us to continue growing through tomorrow’s match as well. As captain, I believe my role is to create an environment where all of our top players — and we have many on this team — can perform at 100% of their ability. That’s the kind of team atmosphere I want to build this season.”

During the regular season, each club will play 44 home-and-away matches. The top eight women’s clubs (out of 14) and top six men’s clubs (out of 10) will advance to the Championship Stage to compete for the season title.

SV.LEAGUE aims to become the world’s leading volleyball league by 2030. Under its ambitious “Reborn II” plan, the league targets JPY 50 billion (approx. USD 330 million) in annual business scale and 2.5 million in total attendance in the 2030/31 season.