I agree I just don't see it with Sato. I wonder which tournament Manabe watched that he was so convinced she has what it takes. We thought she'd be an Ebata but she's not even close to Nabeya in her early years.
Being a big fan of Yoshino Sato myself, I'm puzzled too. Confidence is like the #1 thing you need to have at the international level and she hasn't shown even a little bit of it. But I don't think Manabe just watched a tournament and made a decision. It's gotta be more what he sees in the gym?
She's a confident and pretty dominant player in college. And she's a complete all-arounder: serve, block, receive, back attack. She's got the chops to get there if she gets her heart and mind in gear. She's only an average Japanese defender, though