Kentaro Takahashi (高橋 健太郎, Takahashi Kentarō, born (1995-02-08)8 February 1995) is a Japanese male volleyball player. He is part of the Japan men's national volleyball team. Currently, he plays in V.League division 1 for JTEKT Stings[2]

Kentaro Takahashi
Personal information
NationalityJapanese
Born (1995-02-08) 8 February 1995 (age 29)
Yamagata, Japan
Height203 cm (6 ft 8 in)
Weight93 kg (205 lb)
Spike355 cm (140 in)
Block330 cm (130 in)
College / UniversityUniversity of Tsukuba
Volleyball information
PositionMiddle blocker
Current clubJapan JTEKT Stings
Number10 (national)
2 (club)
Career
YearsTeams
N/AJapan Yonezawa Chuo High School
2014–2016Japan University of Tsukuba
2016–2024Japan Toray Arrows
2024-Japan JTEKT Stings
National team
2012–2013Japan U-19 national team
2013Japan U-21 national team[1]
2014–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 Youth Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Tehran Team
Asian Championship
Gold medal – first place 2017 Gresik Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Urmia Team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Tehran Team
Last updated: 27 August 2023

Personal life

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His family consists of his father, Kazuhiko Takahashi, who used to play Baseball; his mother; an older sister; and a younger sister, who are Long jump athletes.[3]

Career

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Kentaro used to play Baseball before and he aimed to be professional baseball player. But at 15 years old, he broke his elbow so he had to quit playing baseball.[4] After that, he attended at Yonezawa Chuo High School, he started to play volleyball and had an initiation about his future career as a volleyball player.[5]

In 2012, He had selected as a Japan men's national under-19 volleyball team for the first time and received the bronze medal from the 2012 Asian Youth Boys Volleyball Championship.

In 2014, Kentaro had registered in Japan men's national volleyball team for the first time and entered University of Tsukuba respectively. Then, he was dubbed by the then national team coach Masashi Nanbu as one of "NEXT4", the word that referred to 4 players who would be the future of Japanese men's national team, alongside Masahiro Yanagida, Yūki Ishikawa and Akihiro Yamauchi.[6]

In 2016, Kentaro decided to join Toray Arrows volleyball club in V.League and started playing for the team in 2016–17 season.[7][8]

Ahead of 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, he quit national team for family matter.[9] He returned to the team in 2023. After the 2024 Paris Olympics, he announced his retirement from the national team.

Individual Award

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References

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  1. ^ "JAPAN TEAM COMPOSITION". fivb.org. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Team Roster – Japanmen's volleyball team". fivb.org. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  3. ^ "高橋健太郎(バレー)の出身地は?家族構成(父・母・姉妹)も調査!" (in Japanese). kanazawa-ambi.com. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Kentaro Takahashi: Force In The Middle". FIVB. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  5. ^ "バレー高橋健太郎の中学高校大学、身長や最高到達点は?プロフィールまとめ!" (in Japanese). sports-fan.net. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  6. ^ "YANAGIDA CAPTAINS JAPANESE MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM IN OLYMPIC YEAR". FIVB. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Toray Arrows -Kentaro Takahashi profile". toray-arrows.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Toray Arrows players -Kentaro Takahashi". vleague.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  9. ^ "バレー男子世界選手権、日本代表14人発表 左足首負傷の石川祐希が復帰 高橋健太郎は離脱(スポーツ報知)". Yahoo!ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  10. ^ "一般社団法人日本バレーボールリーグ機構". 一般社団法人日本バレーボールリーグ機構. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
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