Beijing, China, May 28, 2008 – Australia concluded their preparation tour for the upcoming Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament with a battling victory over Olympic hosts China in extremely hot and humid conditions in Yongkang of Zhejiang province in Southeast China on Tuesday.

After losing two matches against China, the Australians improved enough during the series to clinch victory in the final match in five sets, 25-18, 17-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-11.

In the first match in Nanjing on Friday, May 23, Australia lost to China in straight sets 20-25, 23-25, 23-25.

Australia started to pick up the pace in Yanchengof Jiangsu province over the weekend and although beaten 3-1 (23-25, 18-25, 25-22, 20-25) they started to show glimpses of their best form.

Before their tour of China, the Australian team visited Argentina, Greece and Slovakia during an almost one-month road trip.

Australia now travels to Japan to contest the Olympic qualifier from May 31 to June 8.
Australia, Korea, Iran and Thailand, as the four best-ranked teams at the Asian Continental Championship, will compete against hosts Japan, Italy, Argentina and Algeria.

The round-robin tournament doubles up as the Asian Men's Olympic Qualification Tournament, so the best Asian team (even if the winner is Asian) will also book a berth in the Volleyball tournament in Beijing.