Volleyball Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament: Brazil join USA, Japan, Germany, Poland and Canada in securing Paris 2024 quotas
Brazil edged out Italy on home soil to secure the last Olympic quota spot at the Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier.
Brazil beat Italy 3-2 on Sunday (8 October) to clinch the final Paris 2024 quota spot via the FIVB Road to Paris Olympic Volleyball Qualifying Tournament (OQT).
In a repeat of the Rio 2016 final in the same Ginasio de Maracanazinho, the winners would secure second spot behind Germany in Pool A.
After taking the first set, Brazil dropped the next two to leave them on the brink of defeat. But they took the fourth 25-17 before winning a tense decider 15-11 with Darlan leading all scorers with 19 points.
Germany topped the group to make their first Olympic Games since London 2012.
With reigning champions France qualifying automatically for the Paris Games as hosts, three-time Olympic champions USA were the first team to earn a quota berth via the OQT Pool B in Tokyo.
Japan secured second place thanks to their penultimate straight-sets win over closest rivals Slovenia.
Poland dominated Pool C, winning seven games out of seven, with Canada edging out Belgium for the second spot.
Pool B: USA and Japan's Olympic bid secured
USA notched their sixth consecutive win in the Qualifying tournament on Saturday (7 October) with a straight sets victory of 25-21, 25-22, 25-18 over Serbia.
“I feel really good about this victory. I think one of the hardest parts about this job are the intensity and focus on getting qualified for the Olympic Games,” said USA’s head coach John Speraw.
They completed their pool matches with a slim 3-2 win on Sunday over Japan who had clinched second spot by beating Slovenia 3-0 on the penultimate day of Olympic qualifying in Tokyo.
Japan and Slovenia went into that crunch encounter with 4-1 records, making it a winner-take-all clash.
Japan’s 25-21, 25-22, 25-18 victory ensured it was the Asians who booked the second automatic slot with Slovenia's final 3-0 win over Serbia proving in vain.
Germany grab quota as Pool A winners
In Pool A, which played out in Rio de Janeiro, Germany won their first six matches out of six to ensure their return to the Olympic Games after a 12-year absence.
The Germans beat Qatar in straight sets, 25-15, 25-20, 25-16, with none of their matches so far going to a deciding fifth game.
Led by captain György Grozer and Anton Brehme, Germany had earlier claimed wins over Islamic Republic of Iran, Cuba, Brazil, Italy and Czechia.
"This is crazy, it's such an incredible feeling, I can't even understand it," Grozer said after putting his team on track to make their fifth Olympic appearance and their first since London 2012.
"That shows you should never stop believing in your dreams. That's what we did and we're going to Paris."
Pool C: Poland and Canada earn quotas
World number one side Poland were first to secure a quota place from Pool C in Xi’an, People's Republic of China.
The reigning European and Volleyball Nations League champions recovered from losing the opening set against the Netherlands to win 3-1 (21-25, 25-17, 25-22, 29-27) on Saturday and make it six wins out of six.
The Poles, whose only Olympic medal came at Montreal 1976, edged out Belgium in their opening game and needed a decider to beat Canada in their third fixture.
And more comfortable wins over Bulgaria, Mexico and Argentina helped them clinch top spot and an 11th Olympic appearance.
Canada capitalised on Belgium's woes to take the second quota berth on the final day.
Belgium's 3-1 win over Canada on Saturday left both teams with 4-2 records, and victory over Bulgaria would have been enough to secure the Belgians second place.
However, a 3-2 defeat left Canada needing a win over Mexico - who had not won a set all tournament - to take that coveted spot in Paris.
And the Canadians prevailed 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-15) to make a fifth Olympic men's volleyball tournament.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.