Canada claim final Olympic ticket in Tokyo men’s qualifier

Tokyo, Japan, June 5, 2016 – Canada’s 3-2 win over China boosted their chance of qualifying to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, until Poland’s 3-0 win over Australia confirmed the Canadians’ qualification spot at the Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Sunday.

Canada knocked China out of the race for the final ticket with a 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 24-26, 25-20, 15-9) win. John Gordon Perrin and Gavin Schmitt combined for 50 points, which is almost half of the entire Canadian match output. Canada started with a win in the first set but lost their focus in the next two sets, as Yuan Zhi and Zhang Chen spearheaded the Chinese run. In the final set, Canada staged an outstanding run that gave them an 8-2 lead at side change. Perrin and Schmitt’s offence, and Justin Duff’s defence ensured the Canadian victory. Yuan scored 21 points, while Zhang logged 14 points on a losing effort for China.

Poland finished with a 6-1 record, as they dashed Australia’s hopes of qualifying to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in their straight-set (25-21, 25-15, 27-25) encounter. The Polish reserves made a strong statement and dominated the Australians in the match. Dawid Konarski led the Polish offensive with 18 points, while Rafal Buszek, Mateusz Bienek and Artur Szalpuk contributed 10 points each. Australia had some great moments in the third set when they took the lead towards the end of the set, but Poland just stuck to their routine and made two solid blocks on Australian top scorer Nathan Roberts. Roberts led Australia with 10 points.

Meanwhile, Japan ended with a positive result, as they posted a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-23) victory over France. Japan had a fast-paced game that allowed them to dominate France in the first two sets. In the third set, France had the lead but could not really make a strong run, as Japan played solid defence that prepared their hitters for good counter-attacks. In the end, Japan completed the set-sweep after two excellent saves. Masahiro Yanagida, Takaaki Tomimatsu and Kunihiro Shimizu steered Japan’s offence with key hits. Japan also had excellent support from Takashi Dekita and Yuta Yoneyama. France, on the other hand, made Rossard Thibault their centre of offence. Yanagida top scored for Japan with 14 points, while Thibault was France’s best scorer with 22 points.

Earlier, Iran completed their stint at the tournament with a 6-1 record after they defeated Venezuela 3-2 (25-23, 27-29, 21-25, 25-18, 15-8). Iran had a difficult time finishing the first set but Mojtaba Mirzajanpour helped his side to escape the tight set. Venezuela bounced back in the next two sets, as Willner Rivas and Kervin Pinerua spearheaded their attack. Venezuela patiently operated on their offence and succeeded with a slim margin. The next set was much easier as Rivas and Pinerua continued to score, while the Iranian defence collapsed. However, Iran made a fine finish and took the next two sets with excellent serves that put intense pressure on the Venezuelan defence. Mirzajanpour topped all scorers with 24 points, while Rivas recorded 21 markers for Venezuela. 

Iran are the top ranked Asian team; while Poland, France and Canada are the top three ranked teams that have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.