Last tickets claimed to Tokyo 2020 volleyball tournament at worldwide qualifier tournaments

All three teams triumphed in somewhat convincing fashion in their final qualifying games to come as winners of their respective continental Olympic sections.

In Vancouver, hosts Canada made sure they finish on top of the NORCECA continental qualifier unbeaten and triumphed with a quick-fire 3-0 victory (25-21, 25-15, 25-15) over Puerto Rico in the last match of tournament. The victory means the Canadians will be making their fifth overall and second consecutive appearance at the Olympic Games, their best result being a fourth place at Los Angeles 1984.

In the first match on Sunday’s programme in Santiago, Chile, Venezuela claimed a similar 3-0 straight sets win (25-19, 25-16, 25-16) over Peru. It meant they finished the tournament with two wins, one defeat and seven points to their name, but had to wait for the outcome of the last match between hosts Chile and unbeaten Colombia, to find out whether they were Tokyo-bound or not.

The Chileans were already out of contention but earned a 3-1 victory (25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19), to deny Colombia the qualifying place. Venezuela are the only South American men’s team, other than powerhouses Brazil and Argentina, to have ever played at the Olympic Games. Tokyo 2020 will be their second Olympic appearance after they last participated in Beijing 2008, where they finished fifth in their pool and just below the cut-off line for the quarterfinals.

Iran earned their spot after being victorious in Sunday’s final of the AVC qualifier in Jiangmen courtesy of a 3-0 win over China (25-14, 25-22, 25-14). This will be the second time Iran will participate in the Olympics, with their debut coming at the previous edition four years ago in Rio where they reached the quarterfinals.

Earlier in the weekend France and Tunisia also qualified for Tokyo after winning their respective qualifiers. France beat hosts Germany in straight sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-23) in the final of the CEV European continental qualifier at Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.

Tunisia, meanwhile, won the one set they needed against Algeria to seal first place in the single five-team pool at the CAVB African continental qualifier in Egypt’s capital Cairo.
They went onto triumph by 3-1 (25-17, 25-23, 26-28, 25-18) and ended the event at the Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex undefeated.

In addition to hosts Japan, the teams of Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Poland, Russia and USA qualified for Tokyo 2020 through the intercontinental qualification tournaments in August,

It means the final line-up for the Tokyo 2020 men’s volleyball competition reads as:

● Argentina
● Brazil
● Canada
● Colombia
● France
● Iran
● Italy
● Japan
● Poland
● Russia
● Tunisia
● USA
Turkey defeated Germany and the Dominican Republic dominated Puerto Rico to become the last teams to make the women’s volleyball tournament of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

They grabbed the continental tickets at the Europe and North & Central America and Caribbean continental qualifiers respectively on Sunday evening.

In the North & Central America and Caribbean tournament in Santo Domingo, Hosts The Dominican Republic filled the last vacant spot for Tokyo 2020 after shutting out Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-15) in the deciding match of the single round-robin pool. The result means the ‘Queens of the Caribbean’ will be making their third Olympic appearance and hoping to improve on being ranked 11th in Athens 2004 and finishing 5th in London 2012 after being knocked out in the quarter-finals by USA.

In Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, Turkey eased past Germany 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-22) to claim the European ticket to the Games. Despite having played for more than two and half hours the previous night in the semi-finals almost until midnight, the match was all over in just 73 minutes as the Turks claimed their spot for what will be their second ever appearance at the Olympic Games, after finishing 9th in London 2012.

Korea grabbed the sole ticket from the Asia qualifier tournament by easing past hosts Thailand in straight sets 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-20), much to the huge disappointment of a sellout crowd at Nakhon Ratchasima. It means Korea will be making their third straight and 12th overall appearance at the Olympic Games, having missed out only on three occasions since the sport was introduced to the Olympic Programme in Tokyo 1964. They were bronze medallists in Montreal 1976 and more recently lost to Japan in the bronze medal match of London 2012. Korea were ranked 5th four years in Rio having been eliminated in the quarterfinals by the Netherlands.

Argentina and Kenya had differing fortunes before picking up the South America and Africa qualifier tickets for Tokyo. Argentina had to recover from a set down and held off Colombia for a 3-1 win(16-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-23) in Bogota that brings them to the Olympic Games for the second time in history.

Hosts Colombia were backed by a 7,000-strong partisan home crowd and made a last-ditch effort to force a tie-break, closing in from 23-17 and 24-20 to come within a point of drawing level in the fourth, before Elina Rodriguez thundered the last ball to wrap it all up.

Kenya on the other hand eased their way to qualification after sealing victory in the African qualifier in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé. A 25-15, 25-21, 25-12 win over Nigeria completed a perfect campaign in the single five-team pool for the Kenyans who will return to the Olympics after a 16-year absence for their third appearance, having ranked 11th at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.

The final line-up for the Tokyo 2020 women’s volleyball competition is:

● Japan
● Serbia
● China
● USA
● Brazil
● Russia
● Italy
● Kenya
● Argentina
● Korea
● Turkey
● Dominican Republic