Poland secure Rio 2016 spot, as France and Iran gain ground

Tokyo, Japan, June 1, 2016 – Undefeated Poland claimed the first Olympic berth available at the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament, as France and Iran are gaining ground on getting their respective berths after their straight-set victories, while Australia recovered from successive losses to improve their record to 2-3 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Wednesday.

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France bt Canada 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-16)Iran bt China 3-2 (26-24, 22-25, 25-19, 17-25, 18-16)Poland bt Venezuela 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-18)Australia bt Japan 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 29-27)

Poland clinched the first Olympic berth available at the tournament after they thumped Venezuela 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-17). Venezuela had a good run towards the end of the set but their rivals easily regained their focus and denied them of any upsurge. Poland controlled the tempo in the next two sets, as they logged nine blocks – three coming from tall middle blocker Marcin Mozdzonek. Polish captain Michal Kubiak showed his range in offence and topped all scorers with 13 markers. Kubiak looked sharp from the three-metre line as he delivered 12 kills. Kervin Martin Pinerua top scored again for Venezuela with 11 points.

Earlier, French attackers played aggressively in their match against their Canadian counterparts with four players scoring in double figures in the straight-set (25-17, 25-17, 25-16) encounter. Earvin Ngapeth and Antonin Rouzier recorded 15 and 14 points, respectively, then team-mates Kevin Tillie and Nicolas Le Goff added 11 and 10 points for France. Graham Vigrass tallied 11 points for Canada. Ngapeth, Rouzier and Le Roux had two service aces each, but their stints at the service line posed so much trouble for the Canadian defence. France dictated the tempo from start to finish as the Canadian struggled on the first ball coming from bullet serves by the French players.

Iran established its grip on the Asian quota, after they defeated China 3-2 (26-24, 22-25, 25-19, 17-25, 18-16). Iranian opposite Shahram Mahmoudi was superb from the attack line as he logged 24 markers then topped it with an ace for his total scoring output of 25. Both sides took alternate victories until they reached the final set. The fifth set was a race to the end as neither side gave a …

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