By Volleyball has a prestige that you need to be bigger to play this sport. However, these five players are defying that conception, playing at the best levels of the sport despite being much smaller in size in comparison to the other average players. In this article, we have rounded up the fact that you do not have to be tall to achieve many great things and these players listed below are a great example of being undersized yet unstoppable on the court.
1. Farhad Zarif
Born: March 3, 1983 (39 years)
Birthplace: Mashhad, Iran
Height: 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight: 60 kg (132 lb)
Spike: 2.90 m (114 in)
Farhad Zarif is an Iranian professional volleyball player who is a member of Paykan Tehran. He previously played for the national Iran team. Zarif was invited to be a part of the national squad back in 2006.
He is the shortest professional men’s volleyball player to have earned an established career in the sport. And although small in size, he can pretty much be a tough opponent when on the court. His size gave him a perfect benefit as his Squad’s libero. Unfortunately, his profession came to an end in 2014 because of family matters.
2. Taichirō Koga
Born: October 4, 1989 (33 years)
Birthplace: Sasebo, Nagasaki
Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
Weight: 154 lb (70 kg)
Spike: 115 in (292 cm)
Taichirō Koga is a Japanese professional volleyball player who plays for Japan’s national volleyball squad. He won a gold medal at the 2017 Asian Championship.
Playing the position of libero, Koga has led his country to triumph in three different national titles. He has played in over 150 games in 29 various events.
3. Matías Sánchez
Born: September 20, 1996 (26 years)
Birthplace: San Juan, Argentina
Height: 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight: 64 kg (141 lb)
Matías Sánchez is an Argentine professional volleyball player. He plays for Argentina national team and Ślepsk Malow Suwałki. He won a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Playing the position of setter, Matías Sánchez has shown his exceptional setting skills on the court. He’s also an eight-time winner of the “Best Setter” award between 2013 to 2019.
As of now, he’s taking out dual duty as a member of both the Argentine men’s national volleyball squad and the French club Tourcoing LM.
4. Masahiro Saketa
Born: November 20, 1993 (28 years)
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
Height: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight: 72 kg (159 lb)
Spike: 311 cm (122 in)
Masahiro Sekita is a Japanese professional volleyball player from Tokyo and plays for JTEKT Stings in V.League Division 1 and Japan men’s national volleyball squad. He was a former captain of the Japan Under-21 national squad in the 2012 Asian Junior Men’s Volleyball Championship and the 2013 FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship.
Playing the position of a setter also plays for the Osaka Sakai Blazers. He began his career in 2016 and is placed Top 7 in the “Best Setter” category.
Sekita was transferred to the Polish league, PlusLiga, participating for Cuprum Lubin in the 2021–22 season.
5. Francisco Ruiz
Born: June 7, 1991 (31 years)
Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
Height: 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight: 75 kg (165 lb)
Francisco José Ruiz is a Spanish volleyball player. He is a member of the Spain men’s national volleyball squad. At the club level, he is a part of Ca’n Ventura Palma.
He plays the position of an outside spiker for Spain’s men’s national volleyball squad. His skillful footwork and outstanding vertical have made him a key player in his squad but he still has yet to achieve many great things as he hasn’t really been able to participate in national events.
