After an intense battle in the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifiers, which featured 84 games played over nine days in three countries, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, Poland and the USA have booked their tickets to the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The six countries will join hosts France at next year’s Olympic Games while the remaining five places will be determined in June 2024.
Pool A in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In Rio de Janeiro, Germany remained undefeated to claim the top spot in Pool A with 21 points, six ahead of second-placed Brazil. The Pool A hosts had to dig deep against world champions Italy in their last match on Sunday, winning 3-2 to emerge as runners-up.
The South Americans will make their 16th consecutive Olympic appearance, maintaining a remarkable tradition of never missing the Games. The Brazilians are also a formidable force at the Games, having won three golds and three silvers since the 1984 edition.
The Germans, led by star opposite Gyorgy Grozer and coach Michal Winiarski, exceeded expectations, stunning both Italy and Brazil 3-1 to confirm the top spot in Pool A and a return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 2012.
It will be Germany’s fifth appearance on the Olympic stage. The team has made it to the top 10 in each of its first four appearances, having won silver at home in Munich, in 1972.
Pool B in Tokyo, Japan
Pool B was played in Tokyo, where NORCECA champions the USA emerged victorious with 20 points from seven matches. The Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2023 silver medallists became the first country to qualify after its 3-0 win over Serbia on Saturday.
Team USA will look to add to its three gold and two bronze Olympic medals at Paris 2024 in what will be the country’s 13th appearance at the Olympic volleyball competition.
Japan lost two matches to the USA and Egypt but recovered to win the other five and secure second spot in the group with 16 points. The Asian champions will play at the Games for the 10th time. They have a full set of medals from the first three editions of the Olympic event in men’s volleyball.
Pool C in Xi’an, People's Republic of China
CEV EuroVolley 2023 and VNL champions Poland lived up to their status as favourites, securing the top position in Pool C with 18 points from seven matches. A 3-1 win over the Netherlands on Saturday saw Poland qualify for Paris 2024 with a game to spare. It will be the 11th time the Poles compete at the Olympics, and the team will be hoping to replicate the gold medal performance of Montreal 1976, the country’s sole podium appearance.
Meanwhile, for the Volleyball Empowerment supported team of Belgium, it was a case of so close yet so far as the team narrowly missed out on the second Pool C slot, which was secured by Canada.
Belgium had beaten Canada 3-1 on Saturday to go second with 14 points, two ahead of the Canadians with one match to go. The Europeans looked set to end its 56-year wait for a return to the Games heading into its last match in Xi’an, China on Sunday.
Both teams (Belgium and Canada) went into the last day on 4-2 win-loss records, but it was Canada which beat Mexico 3-0 to qualify after Belgium had lost 3-2 to Bulgaria. It will be Canada’s third consecutive and sixth overall appearance at the Games. The country’s best result was a fourth-place finish at Los Angeles 1984.
Men’s FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifiers results and final standings.
Source : fivb.com
Cet article est repris de son site d'origine, où vous trouverez la version complète.
Lire l'article sur fivb.com
