Yūki Ishikawa
Ishikawa is the first volleyball player to have a wax figure in Japan. Currently, his wax figure is displayed at Madame Tussauds Tokyo. Ishikawa was named "Best Outside Spiker" award at the FIVB World Cup (2015, 2019), Asian Championship (2017, 2019, 2021), as well as "Most Valuable Player" award at the Asian Championship (2017). As of April 2021, Ishikawa is the captain of the Japan men's national volleyball team, and plays as an outside hitter. He currently plays in the Italian Volleyball League (7th consecutive seasons) for Allianz Milano. Personal life. Ishikawa's father, Mikihisa, is a  former track and field sprinter of "DENSO". His mother, Midori, is a former basketball player of "DENSO". His elder sister, Naomi, is a former volleyball player and his sister, Mayu, is a member of the Japan women's national volleyball team. Career. Clubs. Due to the influence of his elder sister, Ishikawa started playing volleyball in the 4th grade of Elementary School. His best achievement was an 8th place at the . In 2010, he won the bronze medal at the . Then, he was selected as a captain of Aichi Prefecture, and won the silver medal at the the same year . In High School, he became the first student to win "Triple Crown" at 3 tournaments: , , for 2 consecutive years. In the 2014–2015 season, Ishikawa played for the Italian team Parmareggio Modena about 3 months after the end of the All Japan Intercollegiate Volleyball Championship. According to an official of the Japan Association, he was the first student to challenge an overseas league through university (He was the first university freshman to play volleyball in the Italian Volleyball League). In the 2015–2016 season, he returned to Japan to continue playing for Chuo University's club. In December 2016, he transferred to  Italy again, played for Top Volley Latina until 2018. During this time, he was an exchange student while actually still playing for his university. After graduating from university in March 2018, Ishikawa signed his first professional contract with the Italian team (The club was ranked up to the Italian Volleyball League in 2018–2019 season). He moved to Kioene Padova in the next season. He changed club again in 2020, to Allianz Milano, and he extended his contract until the 2021–2022 season. National team. In 2012, Ishikawa was called for the Japan men's national under-19 volleyball team for the first  time, and the Japanese team won the bronze medal at the 2012 Asian Youth Boys Volleyball Championship in Tehran, Iran. He also won the "Best Scorer" award at the end of the tournament. In 2013, as the national team representative, Ishikawa competed in the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Boys' U19 World Championship in Mexico, where the Japanese team finished in 17th place. He continued to compete in the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship in Turkey the same year, where the Japanese team finished in 10th place. In April 2014, Ishikawa entered Chuo University (Faculty of Law, Department of  Political Science), and was called for the Japan men's national volleyball team for the first time. In June 2014, he was elected as a member of "Team CORE" of『Project CORE』(The project responsible for revitalizing volleyball, which was launched by the Japan Volleyball Association). In September 2014, his debut competition was at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. The Japanese team won the silver medal after losing to the Iran team with a set count 1–3 in the final. In October 2014, he was part of the Japanese roster for the 2014 Asian Men's U20 Volleyball Championship  in Manama, Bahrain, and led the team to win the 5th place. In September 2015, Ishikawa participated in the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup in Japan for the first time. The Japanese team finished in 6th place and he won the first "Best Outside Spiker" award of FIVB's tournament as a member of the senior national team. In July 2017, Ishikawa participated in the 2017 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship in Gresik, Indonesia for the first time (He wasn't called to the tournament in 2015). The Japanese team won the gold medal and he also won  the first "Most Valuable Player" award as a member of the senior national team. In 2021, Ishikawa became the captain of the Japan men's national volleyball team, and was assigned to lead the team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese team finished in 7th place after losing to the Brazil team with a set count 0–3 in the quarterfinals. Health effect. COVID-19. In December 2020, Ishikawa was positive for COVID-19 when he was playing volleyball in Italy. He recovered after nearly 20 days of home treatment. However, his taste and smell were still experiencing abnormal  symptoms.