Tokyo, Japan, May 14, 2008 - Eight National Teams will gather in the dazzling capital city of Japan from May 17-25 to compete against each other in the Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament to vie for the last four tickets to the 2008 Beijing Games.

The round-robin tournament doubles up also as the Asian Women's Olympic Qualification Tournament and so the best three teams plus the best Asian team (even if any of the best three teams are Asians) will book their berths in the Volleyball Tournament of the Olympic Games.

Host Japan will be joined by Thailand, Korea, Kazakhstan (best-ranked teams at the 2007 Asian Volleyball Championship), Serbia and Poland (beat-ranked teams from Europe), Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (best-ranked teams from NORCECA).

All the eight teams will have an equal chance to fight for the four places available at the Summer Games in August in Beijing. However, according to the latest World Rankings published on January 5, 2008, and their performances at the FIVB 2007 World Cup, Poland, Serbia and Japan are considered the most probable candidates for the tickets on offer in the tournament.

Ranked No. 7 in the world, the highest ranking among the eight participating teams, Serbia finished fifth in the World Cup and won the silver medal at the 2007 European Championship after losing to World Champion Italy. At the 2007 World Cup, Serbia beat Japan (3-1), Korea (3-0), Thailand (3-0) and Dominican Republic (3-0). They only lost to Poland after a five-set tiebreaker.

Two-times European champions Poland are expected to join their European counterparts to earn a place in Beijing. Poland placed sixth in the World Cup, where they defeated Serbia (3-0), Korea (3-1) and Thailand (3-0), but were beaten by Japan (2-3) and Dominican Republic (0-3). In the European Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament in January 2008 world No. 6 Poland crushed Serbia again before they were overpowered 2-3 by Russia in the final.

Hosts Japan, ranked No. 8 in the world, are also a great favourite to clinch an Olympic berth considering their excellent performances in important world competitions. After Shoichi Yanagimoto became Head Coach, the Japanese squad put a stop to absences from the Olympics and finished fifth in Athens. In the 2006 FIVB World Championship, Japan missed an opportunity to win a medal by finishing fifth. Japan placed seventh in the 2007 World Cup where they brushed aside Poland, Dominican Republic, Korea and Thailand.

The biggest inspiration to Japan is that they blanked China in straight sets at the 2007 Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship. This was the first time Japan had beaten China in five years and the third time in 24 years.

Even if Japan fails to enter the top three, they will still probably finish as the best Asian team at the Tournament, with Korea, Kazakhstan and Thailand probably not posing a great threat to Japan.

Korea, who ranks No. 11 in the world, are the third-strongest Asian team after China and Japan but have not performed very well in recent major international tournaments. However, Korea are showing progress, beating Thailand and the Dominican Republic and finishing eighth in the World Cup. The Koreans hope the Olympic Qualification Tournament will be the turning point toward Korea’s resurrection. Head Coach Lee Jung-Chul is now working hard with his players to book a ticket to Beijing. If Japan finishes in the top three, Korea will have even more of a chance to become the best Asian team in the tournament.

Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Kazakhstan and Thailand must be also be considered serious contenders. They will certainly put up a strong challenge to the above-mentioned teams so as to get an Olympic ticket.

World No. 19 Puerto Rico and No. 14 Dominican Republic finished third and fourth at the NORCECA Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament last December in Mexico and failed to make the Olympics. They now have a second chance to realize their dreams.

After receiving news of their inclusion in the Qualification Tournament, the Puerto Rican Volleyball Federation began to prepare the National Team for the competition in Japan. They appointed Carlos Cardona from Argentina as the new team adviser.

The Dominican’s hopes of qualification for the Beijing Olympic Games were dashed after they were beaten by Canada in straight sets in the semi-finals of the Women's Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament in December last year and they eventually finished fourth after losing to Puerto Rico. Now everything is focused on the Women's World Olympic Tournament.

Thailand surprised Asian Volleyball family by defeating Korea, Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei, ending in third place after Japan and China at the 2007 Asian Championship, and finished 10th at the World Cup for the first time. The Thai Women will try their best to vie with Korea and Kazakhstan for the Olympic ticket as the best Asian team.

Italy, Brazil, USA, Algeria, Russia, Cuba and Venezuela have already booked their tickets to Beijing through the 2007 World Cup or Continental Qualification Tournaments, while China has qualified as the host country.

Match schedule (All times are local):

Saturday, May 17
Thailand vs. Dominican Republic (11:05)
Korea vs. Puerto Rico (13:05)
Serbia vs. Kazakhstan (15:05)
Poland vs. Japan (18:00)

Sunday, May 18
Dominican Republic vs. Serbia (11:05)
Korea vs. Thailand (13:05)
Kazakhstan vs. Poland (15:05)
Puerto Rico vs. Japan (18:00)

Monday, May 19 – Rest Day

Tuesday, May 20
Thailand vs. Puerto Rico (11:35)
Serbia vs. Korea (13:35)
Poland vs. Dominican Republic (15:35)
Japan vs. Kazakhstan (18:30)

Wednesday, May 21
Thailand vs. Serbia (11:35)
Puerto Rico vs. Kazakhstan (13:35)
Korea vs. Poland (15:35)
Dominican Republic vs. Japan (18:30)

Thursday, May 22 – Rest Day

Friday, May 23
Kazakhstan vs. Dominican Republic (11:35)
Serbia vs. Puerto Rico (13:35)
Poland vs. Thailand (15:35)
Japan vs. Korea (18:30)

Saturday, May 24
Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic (11:05)
Serbia vs. Poland (13:05)
Korea vs. Kazakhstan (15:05)
Thailand vs. Japan (18:00)

Sunday, May 25
Dominican Republic vs. Korea (11:05)
Kazakhstan vs. Thailand (13:05)
Poland vs. Puerto Rico (15:05)
Japan vs. Serbia (18:00)