TOKYO, 30 May 2004 — World bronze medalists France powered past Japan yesterday for a sixth straight win in men’s volleyball and a place at the Athens Olympic Games.

The French spikers fought against a partisan crowd for a 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-12 victory, clinching a ticket to the Olympics for the first time since taking part in the 1988 and 1992 games.

Yesterday’s achievement gave France a perfect 6-0 win-loss record in the eight-nation round robin, making them unbeatable by second placers Australia, who won a crucial battle against China 25-21, 25-20, 25-19 for a 5-1 record.

“I’m very proud of the team because we worked very hard for these three years for this qualification for Athens,” said French coach Philippe Blain.

“It was a very difficult game because Japan played without any pressure, perhaps their best game in this tournament, so I’m very happy for this win tonight.”

Blain said he would rest some players during the world league tournament next week in Bulgaria before starting preparations for the Olympics.

“It’s true that our first objective is to win a medal in the Olympic Games. This qualification is very important at this moment, but it’s not the end of our goal,” said Blain.

“We will prepare for the Olympics for five weeks because this kind of big competition needs a minimum of five weeks to work physically, tactically and to be well prepared to take a medal.

“In Athens, we will play teams like Italy, Brazil, Russia, the USA ... it’s a very hard competition, so we must prepare very well,” he said.

French captain Dominique Daquin, who has said he does not want to finish his career without taking part in the Olympics, appeared relieved after the win in front of noisy Japanese fans.

“I was afraid of the Japanese team because they have nothing to lose, they are free from pressure, and they’ve done a very good match today,” Daquin said.

“We’d been determined to win (an Olympic berth), because we were looking for it for more than 10 years,” he said.

The round robin’s top-finishing country from Asia, including Australia, will also qualify for the Olympics.

France will join Brazil, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro, Russia, the United States, Argentina, Tunisia, Poland and hosts Greece in Athens. Another qualifier will be decided in Madrid Sunday.