ISHIKAWA Yuki

General
CAPTAIN'S ROLE
In 2021 he was appointed captain of the Japanese men's team ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and has knows who he wants to emulate in the role. "As a captain, my role model is Brazilian Bruno Rezende who captained the team that won gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He was expressive and strongly showed his desire to win, and that translated to his team. His expressiveness and captaincy have been highly respected, so I would like to work on that as well. I want to make sure we are together as a team. We have some extremely talented players. I want to be a captain who can bring out the best in us. That is the kind of team I want us to be, a team that can capitalise on its individual talent." (number.bunshun.jp, 29 May 2021; olympics.com, 27 May 2021)

PLAYING IN ITALY
In 2014 he moved from Japan to Italy to play for Italian SuperLega club Modena Volley for three months in his first year at Chuo University in Tokyo. He then travelled back and forth from Japan to Italy to join Top Volley Latina between 2016 and 2018 while continuing his studies at university. After his graduation from university in 2018, he turned professional and signed for Emma Villas Siena for the 2018/19 season. In 2019 he played for Padova before he joined Allianz Milano ahead of the 2020/21 season. In May 2021 he extended his contract with Allianz Milano until 2022. "I want to compete with the best in the world. I had a lot of work to do to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics and playing abroad was part of my preparation. The Italian league helped me develop as a player." (legavolley.it, 01 Jun 2021; powervolleymilano.tokyo, 15 May 2021; volleyball.world, 01 Mar 2021; olympics.com, 31 Jan 2020, 10 Jan 2019; number.bunshun.jp, 11 Dec 2016; Japan Volleyball Association Facebook page, 11 Oct 2014)

COVID-19
In December 2020 he tested positive for COVID-19. He returned to competitive action in January 2021 after one month of recovery. "As I had strong symptoms for about four days after a confirmed infection, I was worried about what would happen to me. It was good to be back on the court after a long break." (tv-tokyo.co.jp, 05 Jan 2021; chunichi.co.jp, 04 Jan 2021)