2012 FIVB Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament

Volleyball qualification tournament for the 2012 Olympics Volleyball at the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 FIVB Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament is a qualification tournament to determine the remaining four competitor spots for Volleyball at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The event also doubles as the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament; the best three teams plus the best Asian team (outside the top-three ranking) will compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Host nation Japan are joined by the three best-ranked teams from the Asian Continental Championship, plus (according to the FIVB World Rankings, as of 4 January 2012) the two best-ranked teams from Confédération Européenne de Volleyball (CEV) that did not qualify in the European qualification tournament, the best-ranked team from North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) that did not qualify in the NORCECA qualification tournament, and the best-ranked team from Confederación Sudamericana de Voleibol (CSV) or Confédération Africaine de Volleyball (CAVB) that did not qualify in the respective qualification tournament. Qualified teams Host nation JPN Qualified through 2011 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship KOR THA TPE Qualified through FIVB World Rankings as of 4 January 2012http://www.fivb.org/en/volleyball/VB_Ranking_W_2012-01.asp FIVB Senior World Ranking – Women 4 January 2012 FIVB 5 January 2012 SRB (as CEV 1 – no. 6) RUS (as CEV 2 – no. 7) CUB (as NORCECA 1 – no. 10)With financial help, Cuba will compete at the Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament http://esportes.terra.com.br/volei/noticias/0,,OI5763381-EI1891,00-Com+ajuda+financeira+Cuba+vai+ao+PreOlimpico+feminino+de+volei.html Terra.com.br Portuguese 2012-05-10 2019-09-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20190911193004/http://esportes.terra.com.br/volei/com-ajuda-financeira-cuba-vai-ao-pre-olimpico-feminino-de-volei,f4be4e01053ba310VgnCLD200000bbcceb0aRCRD.html deadPuerto Rico a Japón tras clasificación de Dominicana http://www.fpvoleibol.com/Selecciones_MayorFemenina_PU-a-Japon-tras-clasificacion-de-Dominicana.html fpvoleibol.com Spanish PER (as CSV 1 or CAVB 1 – no. 17)1 1 Venue: JPN Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan Dates: 19–27 May 2012 All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00). 1 1 – Replacing Kenya, which had a better world ranking (no. 15) but withdrew.http://elpoli.pe/noticia.php?id=2977 https://archive.today/20120707200613/http://elpoli.pe/noticia.php?id=2977 dead 7 July 2012 FIVB: Perú con opción para asistir al Preolímpico Mundial de Japón 18 February 2012 elpoli.pe Spanish 18 February 2012 Standings The competition system for the tournament is the single Round-Robin system. Each team plays once against each of the 7 remaining teams. Points are accumulated during the whole tournament, and the final ranking is determined by the total points gained. main Volleyball Q points complete RUS RUS KOR KOR SRB SRB JPN JPN THA THA CUB CUB PER PER TPE TPE 7 0 0 0 21 1 539 400 5 0 2 0 16 7 538 449 4 1 2 0 16 10 572 537 3 1 2 1 15 11 569 529 4 0 3 0 12 10 487 485 2 0 4 1 9 15 530 544 1 0 6 0 4 18 412 531 0 0 7 0 0 21 355 527 #ccffcc A A A A Results Schedule https://web.archive.org/web/20120527200757/http://worldvolleyball.jp/schedule/index.html 2012-05-27 (in Japanese) Day 1 19 May 11:00 TPE 0–3 SER 19–25 15–25 16–25 P2P3 19 May 13:30 THA 0–3 RUS 19–25 18–25 16–25 P2P3 19 May 16:00 KOR 3–0 CUB 25–19 25–23 25–20 P2P3 19 May 19:10 JPN 3–0 PER 25–13 25–21 25–18 P2P3 Day 2 20 May 11:00 SER 0–3 THA 19–25 17–25 20–25 P2P3 20 May 13:30 PER 0–3 CUB 19–25 21–25 15–25 P2P3 20 May 16:00 RUS 3–0 KOR 25–16 25–23 25–23 P2P3 20 May 19:10 JPN 3–0 TPE 25–16 25–13 25–14 P2P3 Day 3 22 May 11:00 TPE 0–3 PER 19–25 20–25 20–25 P2P3 22 May 13:30 CUB 0–3 RUS 19–25 18–25 20–25 P2P3 22 May 16:00 KOR 1–3 SER 25–16 21–25 13–25 20–25 P2P3 22 May 19:10 JPN 3–0 THA 25–17 25–18 25–21 P2P3 Day 4 23 May 11:00 PER 0–3 RUS 17–25 16–25 9–25 P2P3 23 May 13:30 TPE 0–3 THA 16–25 18–25 20–25 P2P3 23 May 16:00 SER 3–0 CUB 25–21 25–23 25–19 P2P3 23 May 19:10 JPN 1–3 KOR 18–25 25–22 17–25 13–25 P2P3 Day 5 25 May 11:00 THA 3–0 PER 25–19 25–19 25–20 P2P3 25 May 13:30 RUS 3–1 SER 25–18 25–11 14–25 25–22 P2P3 25 May 16:00 KOR 3–0 TPE 25–8 25–12 25–18 P2P3 25 May 19:05 JPN 3–2 CUB 25–23 18–25 25–16 23–25 17–15 P2P3 Day 6 26 May 11:00 PER 1–3 SER 16–25 18–25 25–22 21–25 P2P3 26 May 13:30 TPE 0–3 CUB 25–27 17–25 21–25 P2P3 26 May 16:00 THA 0–3 KOR 18–25 22–25 20–25 P2P3 26 May 19:05 JPN 0–3 RUS 22–25 20–25 20–25 P2P3 Day 7 27 May 11:00 CUB 1–3 THA 23–25 23–25 25–18 21–25 P2P3 27 May 13:30 RUS 3–0 TPE 25–14 25–17 25–17 P2P3 27 May 16:00 KOR 3–0 PER 25–11 25–18 25–21 P2P3 27 May 19:05 JPN 2–3 SER 25–18 21–25 25–19 21–25 9–15 P2P3 Individual awards 18em Best scorer Kim Yeon-Koung KOR Best spiker Kim Yeon-Koung KOR Best blocker Yang Hyo-Jin KOR Best server Yanelis Santos CUB Best digger Hua Yang Meng TPE Best setter Nootsara Tomkom THA Best receiver Kim Yeon-Koung KOR Best libero Hua Yang Meng TPE Controversy The last game of the tournament which Japan lost to Serbia 2–3 was controversial in that it was allegedly a fixed match. The FIVB then conducted an investigation into whether the Japanese women's team deliberately lost against Serbia before concluding that there was no evidence to prove the existence of match fixing. Background Before the controversial match, Japan had gained 11 points to put them in 5th place, while Serbia had 12 points, placing them 3rd. main Volleyball Q points complete RUS RUS KOR KOR SRB SRB THA THA JPN JPN CUB CUB PER PER TPE TPE 7 0 0 0 21 1 539 400 5 0 2 0 16 7 538 449 4 0 2 0 13 8 470 436 4 0 3 0 12 10 487 485 3 1 2 0 13 8 468 427 2 0 4 1 9 15 530 544 1 0 6 0 4 18 412 531 0 0 7 0 0 21 355 527 #ccffcc A A inherit B B B #ffccff E E E For the last game, the qualification outcome could have fallen into one of three scenarios: If Japan beat Serbia by any score, Japan and Thailand would qualify. If Japan loses 0–3 or 1–3, Serbia and Thailand would qualify. If Japan loses 2–3, Serbia and Japan would qualify. Match details and consequences In the 1st set, Japan took an 8–5 lead at the first technical time-out. After that, Serbia levelled the score at 10–10. Erika Araki spiked to let Japan lead 16–14 at the second TTO and then drilled a spike right down the middle to give Japan the set 25–18. Serbia returned to claim the 2nd set 21–25. Japan came back in the 3rd set with a 10-point lead, 16–6, 18–8, 20–10 and 22–12 before closing the set 25–19. After the 3rd set, Japan had already qualified for 2012 Summer Olympics regardless of what would have happened after, so they didn't have to play seriously. However in the 4th set, Japan was up 19–16 before Serbia made 6 consecutive points, ending with a win for Serbia at 21–25. After the match, Masayoshi Manabe, coach of Japan, released a statement. We knew this was the last day. Everybody was nervous. We knew we had to get two sets. Yoshie Takeshita is ill from mental and physical exhaustion after this match. We told the players at the morning meeting that we had to give it (our) full power tonight. We have to work on our serve reception in the two months leading up to the Olympics. Serbia's win also meant that they qualified ahead of Thailand, which had hoped to reach the Olympics for the first time. Had Japan beaten Serbia, Thailand would have also qualified along with Japan. But in such a situation, Japan would have been placed in a tough group in London alongside defending champions Brazil, the world number-one United States, Asian champions China and the new European force Turkey. Thai captain, Wilavan Apinyapong, was disappointed but said that the Olympic Games remained their ultimate dream. Investigation On May 28, 2012, the day after the match, FIVB president Wei Jizhong released statement: The FIVB has investigated the allegation of match fixing. The conclusion of the FIVB control committee in place is that there is no evidence to prove the existence of match fixing. The reports received from the national federations of Japan and Serbia told us the same. Some witnesses in attendance at the match gave the same judgement. The FIVB also said that it stood firmly against match fixing and would revise the system of future Olympics qualifiers to reduce even further the possibility of any manipulation. Reaction Some media were suspicious of the investigation result and said that something didn’t seem right. Thai social media sites were bombarded with messages expressing dissatisfaction over the judgement and a Japanese volleyball official insisted that allegations of match manipulation were unfounded. References http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/05/30/japan-volleyball-match-fixing.ap/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120603002125/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/olympics/05/30/japan-volleyball-match-fixing.ap/index.html dead June 3, 2012 FIVB dismisses match-fixing claim against Japan AP 30 May 2012 http://www.fivb.org/viewHeadlines.asp?No=34884&Language=en FIVB President statement on Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament FIVB 28 May 2012 http://www.fivb.org/en/media/viewPressRelease.asp?No=34868&Language=en Serbia top Japan in five sets as both teams secure Olympic berths FIVB 27 May 2012 http://www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/competitions/WorldOQT/2012/W1WOQT12/viewPressRelease.asp?No=34870&Language=en Serbia coach Zoran thanks players for their efforts in win FIVB 27 May 2012 http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/1204297/1/.html Volleyball: Match-fixing claim rejected by world body AFP 29 May 2012 http://www.nationmultimedia.com/sports/Match-fixing-may-have-killed-Thai-spikers-Olympic--30183021.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120531214620/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/sports/Match-fixing-may-have-killed-Thai-spikers-Olympic--30183021.html dead May 31, 2012 Match-fixing may have killed Thai spikers' Olympic dream Thai daily Nation 29 May 2012 http://www.volleywood.net/volleyball-related-news/fivb/fivb-investigates-srb-jpn-match FIVB Investigates SRB-JPN Match volleywood.net 28 May 2012 http://www.nationmultimedia.com/sports/Match-fixing-ruled-out-Thailands-spikers-mourn-Oly-30183126.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120531223434/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/sports/Match-fixing-ruled-out-Thailands-spikers-mourn-Oly-30183126.html dead May 31, 2012 Match-fixing ruled out, Thailand's spikers mourn Olympic dream Thai daily Nation 30 May 2012 External links Official website Qualification process FIVB women Olympic qualification women Vol