TOKYO, 29 May 2004 — Australia kept themselves on track for an Olympic volleyball berth with a hard-fought victory over Asian champions South Korea in the final qualifying tournament here yesterday.
The Australians, fourth in the Asian championships last year, powered their way to a 25-21, 25-15, 21-25, 25-19 victory to stretch their win-loss record to 4-1. Today Australia will take on Asian championship silver medalists China in what is shaping up as a shoot-out for the prize of top Asian finisher in the eight-nation event.
The Chinese were comfortable 25-15, 25-16, 25-15 victors over winless Algeria, giving them the same 4-1 record as Australia.
Front-runners France, the world bronze medalists, faced a spirited challenge from Iran before scoring a 33-31, 25-19, 25-21 victory for a perfect fifth straight win without losing a single set.
The winners of the round-robin tournament and top-finishing Asian country will qualify for the Olympics.
“Since I started coaching Australia in 2001 after the Olympics, my record playing Korea was always a loss. For this reason, this is really an important win today,” said Australia’s Argentinian coach Jon Uriarte.
“We started really good, the team followed the gameplan really accurately. Then in the third set the Korean team came back with really smart variations, they are very smart to change to what is taking place on the court.
“We still struggled to change quickly, but my players realized the new variations and came back in the fourth and we got a really important win,” added Uriarte.
When he was asked about his expectations against China, Uriarte said: “It’s very high. Since I’m coaching Australia, it’s the first time ever that we got four wins in a row.”
“I’m really proud how the team is focusing match by match. I think the team is really determined to win this opportunity to go to Athens.”
Australian captain Daniel Howard said: “One of the keys for us will be to serve very tough.” “As we haven’t managed to beat them (China) in any international competitions, all of us are very determined to make it for the first time,” said Howard, who hit 20 winners, including three service winners. France coach Philippe Blain said the secret to the team’s success here was “to get one point more than the other team.” France can secure their Olympics berth with victory against Japan today, regardless of the outcome of the China-Australia match.
