France and Iran secure Olympic berths, as final ticket to be confirmed on last day

Tokyo, Japan, June 4, 2016 – France and Iran secured their spots for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with their respective victories, as Australia and Canada earned victories to keep their Olympic hopes up at the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Friday.

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Australia bt China 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 26-24)France bt Venezuela 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-11, 20-25, 15-9)Iran bt Poland 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 34-32)Canada bt Japan 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-19)

France needed two sets to claim the Olympic berth and they were able to get that in the third set, with Antonin Rouzier’s 17-point attack assault. France defeated the South American side 3-2 (25-25, 23-25, 25-11, 20-25, 15-19). Venezuela had good performances in the second set and fourth sets that involved Emerson Rodriguez, Jhonlenn Barreto and Willner Rivas on the forefront of their offence. Rodriguez top scored for Venezuela with 16 points, while Barreto and Rivas finished with 15 and 13 points, respectively. The match also saw an opportunity for the other French players to rise to the occasion as Rossard Thibault and Nicolas Marechal produced nine and eight points, respectively, in the fourth and fifth sets.

Iran secured their Olympic berth after they defeated Poland 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 34-32). The Iranians had a difficult task to fulfil, as they went up against the undefeated team, but they delivered in an impressive manner. Iran was led by Shahram Mamoudi, who scored 24 points to help his squad earn their historic first-ever qualification to the Olympic Games. Iran controlled the first two sets but Poland came back in the third set. Iran prevailed in the nail-biting fourth set after being pushed to play extra points, but two costly errors on the Polish side rewarded them with the victory. Poland’s Dawid Konarski finished with 29 points.

Thomas Edgar led Autralia to keep their Olympic hopes alive as they defeated continental rivals China 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 26-24). Australia showed their physical advantage over China in the first two sets but the East Asian side kept their composure in the third frame to extend the match. The fourth set went into a race but Australia benefitted from a service …

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