Kazakhs seal Beijing berth

Tokyo: Kazakhstan qualified for the Olympic volleyball tournament on Sunday alongside Serbia, Japan and Poland amid confusion over the rules.

The qualification was confirmed by officials from the sport’s governing body FIVB despite Kazakhstan earlier being considered to be out of contention. Kazakhstan on Sunday rallied to a 13-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-21 win to finish the round with two wins and five defeats.

Earlier in the day, South Korea crashed to a 17-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 defeat to the Dominican Republic to finish with the same 2-5 record in the eight-team round-robin competition.

Kazakhstan finished higher than South Korea because of a better points ratio of 0.914335 against South Korea’s 0.87684 to qualify. It was previously understood that Olympic places would go to the winners plus the best-placed Asian country and two more teams out of the remaining six sides.

But the Japan Volleyball Association issued a statement on Sunday saying that "the FIVB changed part of the regulation" and added the "top three finishers and the best Asian team... will qualify for the Olympics."

Under the previous regulations, the Dominican Republic would have qualified but the new rules mean that Kazakhstan qualify by virtue of being the best Asian team outside the top three, even though they have fewer points than the Dominican Republic.

Kazakhstan captain Yelena Pavlova broke down in tears during a post-match interview when she heard her team had qualified for the Olympics and quickly left the room to report to her teammates. "We did everything to win today. It was really tough. I gave my 100 percent," said Pavlova, the team’s top scorer with 22 points.

"I’ve never had such a surprise press conference before. I have no words to say at this moment. Please see my face to know how happy I am," said a jubilant coach Viktor Zhuravlev. — AFP