Tokyo, May 30, Kyodo/OANA/IRNA -- Japan, which has already seen its
dream of an Olympic berth shattered, walked away winners in a tight
match against South Korea on the final day of the Athens Olympics
men's world qualifying tournament on Sunday.
The host ended a 10-game losing streak to South Korea for its
first victory against its arch-rival in three years, winning the
match 25-20, 25-21, 25-23 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Japan, which quickly set the pace taking leads of 11-8 and 18-13
in the first set, finished the tournament in sixth place with a 2-5
record while South Korea (1-6) came seventh.
While first-place France won all seven of its matches to book a
spot at this summer's games, Australia claimed an Olympic berth as the
top Asian team based on point percentage though it had an identical
5-2 record with third-place China.
France pummeled winless Algeria 3-0 while China defeated
fourth-place Canada (4-3) in straight sets. Iran (4-3) was fifth while
Algeria (0-7) came last.
Only the overall winner and the best Asian team from the
eight-team competition qualified for Athens.
