Kazakh players celebrate their first entry into the Olympics.
On the evening of May 25, the 2008 Olympic women's volleyball qualifying tournament concluded in Tokyo, Japan. Kazakhstan beat Thailand 3-1, winning the last ticket to the Beijing Olympics while securing their place in Olympic history, marking the first time ever the Kazakh women's volleyball team competes in any Games. By now, all 12 women's volleyball teams that will compete in the Olympics have been confirmed.
In the first match, despite their good start, the team from the Republic of Korea lost to the team from the Dominican Republic, 1-3. Coach Lee Jung-Chul attributed the loss to the absence of four injured starters.
Kazakh players celebrate their victory.
In another match, Kazakhstan beat Thailand 3-1 and finished with 9 points. Because of their high point ratio, Kazakhstan will head to Beijing in August.
In a third match, Poland beat Puerto Rico 3-0, finishing with 13 points. Poland's best scorer said her team was not the best, but that they would try their hardest to win a medal in the Beijing Olympics.
Kazakh players celebrate the victory over Thailand.
Another two teams, Japan and Serbia, met in an evenly-matched game, with Japan winning the first two sets 25-17, 25-21, and Serbia winning the next two sets with the same score of 25-19. In the deciding set, after fierce competition, Serbia won 19-17, finishing the 111-minute match with a total score of 3-2.
(BOCOG May 27, 2008)