Thrilling win secures Japan a Beijing Olympic volleyball berth
June 7, 2008
Japan has defeated Argentina 3-2 in the sixth round of the qualifying tournament in Tokyo. The win means that Japan and Italy have secured the final two spots at the Beijing Olympic men’s volleyball tournament.
If Argentina had won the match they convincingly they might have been able to sneak past Italy in their final match of the tournament. As it turned out Japan took that out of the equation and now they are Beijing bound.
The match started with a thrilling first set with the Argentinian team winning 28-26. Japan crushed their opponents in the second set 25-13. The home team were looking good when they claimed the third set 25-17. Argentina was not giving up that easily and took the fourth set 25-17.
It all came down to the fifth set. Japan knew they had the Olympic spot if they could win the match. Thanks to Yamamoto Takahiro’s attacking play the home team secured the match with a thrilling 20-18 win. The match lasted just under two hours.
As we now look forward to the Olympic tournament in Beijing the final twelve teams are decided. The teams to play at the Olympics in the men’s volleyball tournament will be:
China, Brazil, Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Japan, Serbia, USA, Venezuela, Germany, Italy and Poland.
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