Press release

Tokyo, Japan, May 27, 2012 – World champions Russia, Korea, Serbia and Japan all earned Olympic tickets at the FIVB Women’s World Qualification Tournament to complete the 12-team women’s field for the volleyball event of the 2012 London Games.

Russia, Korea and Serbia finished as the top three ranked teams of the competition while hosts Japan made it to London as the best-ranked Asian team since the tournament doubled as Asian Continental Qualifier.

These four teams joined hosts Great Britain, Italy, United States, China (FIVB World Cup Top-three) and Olympic Continental Qualifying Tournament’s winners Algeria, Dominican Republic, Turkey and Brazil as the protagonists to participate in the Summer Games drama.

Serbia outdueled Japan in a five-set thriller (18-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 15-9) on Sunday night to finish with 14 points and a 5-2 win-loss record. Japan and Thailand both finished tied with 4-3 mark and 12 points, but Japan got the pass due to a better set-ratio (1.364 to 1.200).

“I congratulate my team because we qualified for the Olympics,” Serbia’s coach Zoran Terzic stated. “I appreciate everything they did, especially in the final set.”

“Everybody was nervous,” Japan’s coach Masayoshi Manabe said. “We knew we had to get two sets. We have to work on our serve reception in the two months leading up to the Olympics.”

Russia cruised past Chinese Taipei in straight sets (25-14, 25-17, 25-17) to conclude the competition a flawless 7-0, while Chinese Taipei ended 0-7.

“I thank all of our players and I can't thank the players enough,” Russia’s coach Sergey Ovchinnikov said. “We won almost all of the matches 3-0. We had time for preparation and communication between the players for this tournament."

Korea routed Peru in straight sets (25-11, 25-18, 25-21) to claim their ticket to the British capital after finishing with a 5-2 record while Peru closed at 1-6.

“We have reached our goal of making the Olympics,” Korea’s coach Kim Hyung-Sil said. “Thirty six years ago the Korean women took the bronze medal and we will go to London with the goal of getting a medal as well.”

Thailand scored a four-set victory over Cuba (25-23, 25-23, 18-25, 25-21) in spite of the 18-2 advantage in blocks by the defeated side. Cuba concluded at 2-5.

“I'm happy with my players,” Thailand coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai stated. “This game will be a good memory for them forever. The match was not easy since Cuba is very strong in all aspects.”