2012 FIVB Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament

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.

Main article: Volleyball at 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
^1 – Replacing Kenya, which had a better world ranking (no. 15) but withdrew.[4]

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.

Pts Matches Sets Points
Rank Team W L W L Ratio W L Ratio
1  Russia 21 7 0 21 1 21.000 539 400 1.348
2  South Korea 15 5 2 16 7 2.286 538 449 1.198
3  Serbia 14 5 2 16 10 1.600 572 537 1.065
4  Japan 12 4 3 15 11 1.364 569 529 1.076
5  Thailand 12 4 3 12 10 1.200 487 485 1.004
6  Cuba 7 2 5 9 15 0.600 530 544 0.974
7  Peru 3 1 6 4 18 0.222 412 531 0.776
8  Chinese Taipei 0 0 7 0 21 0.000 355 527 0.674

Results

[5]

Day 1
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
19 May 11:00 Chinese Taipei  0–3  Serbia 19–25 15–25 16–25     50–75 P2P3
19 May 13:30 Thailand  0–3  Russia 19–25 18–25 16–25     53–75 P2P3
19 May 16:00 South Korea  3–0  Cuba 25–19 25–23 25–20     75–62 P2P3
19 May 19:10 Japan  3–0  Peru 25–13 25–21 25–18     75–52 P2P3

Day 2
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
20 May 11:00 Serbia  0–3  Thailand 19–25 17–25 20–25     56–75 P2P3
20 May 13:30 Peru  0–3  Cuba 19–25 21–25 15–25     55–75 P2P3
20 May 16:00 Russia  3–0  South Korea 25–16 25–23 25–23     75–62 P2P3
20 May 19:10 Japan  3–0  Chinese Taipei 25–16 25–13 25–14     75–43 P2P3

Day 3
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
22 May 11:00 Chinese Taipei  0–3  Peru 19–25 20–25 20–25     59–75 P2P3
22 May 13:30 Cuba  0–3  Russia 19–25 18–25 20–25     57–75 P2P3
22 May 16:00 South Korea  1–3  Serbia 25–16 21–25 13–25 20–25   79–91 P2P3
22 May 19:10 Japan  3–0  Thailand 25–17 25–18 25–21     75–56 P2P3

Day 4
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
23 May 11:00 Peru  0–3  Russia 17–25 16–25 9–25     42–75 P2P3
23 May 13:30 Chinese Taipei  0–3  Thailand 16–25 18–25 20–25     54–75 P2P3
23 May 16:00 Serbia  3–0  Cuba 25–21 25–23 25–19     75–63 P2P3
23 May 19:10 Japan  1–3  South Korea 18–25 25–22 17–25 13–25   73–97 P2P3

Day 5
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
25 May 11:00 Thailand  3–0  Peru 25–19 25–19 25–20     75–58 P2P3
25 May 13:30 Russia  3–1  Serbia 25–18 25–11 14–25 25–22   89–76 P2P3
25 May 16:00 South Korea  3–0  Chinese Taipei 25–8 25–12 25–18     75–38 P2P3
25 May 19:05 Japan  3–2  Cuba 25–23 18–25 25–16 23–25 17–15 108–104 P2P3

Day 6
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
26 May 11:00 Peru  1–3  Serbia 16–25 18–25 25–22 21–25   80–97 P2P3
26 May 13:30 Chinese Taipei  0–3  Cuba 25–27 17–25 21–25     63–77 P2P3
26 May 16:00 Thailand  0–3  South Korea 18–25 22–25 20–25     60–75 P2P3
26 May 19:05 Japan  0–3  Russia 22–25 20–25 20–25     62–75 P2P3

Day 7
Date Time Score Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5 Total Report
27 May 11:00 Cuba  1–3  Thailand 23–25 23–25 25–18 21–25   92–93 P2P3
27 May 13:30 Russia  3–0  Chinese Taipei 25–14 25–17 25–17     75–48 P2P3
27 May 16:00 South Korea  3–0  Peru 25–11 25–18 25–21     75–50 P2P3
27 May 19:05 Japan  2–3  Serbia 25–18 21–25 25–19 21–25 9–15 101–102 P2P3

Individual awards

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[6] before concluding that there was no evidence to prove the existence of match fixing.[7]

Background

Before the controversial match Japan had gained 11 points to put them in 5th place, while Serbia had 12 points placing them 3rd.

Pts Matches Sets Points
Rank Team W L W L Ratio W L Ratio
1  Russia 21 7 0 21 1 21.000 539 400 1.348
2  South Korea 15 5 2 16 7 2.286 538 449 1.198
3  Serbia 12 4 2 13 8 1.625 470 436 1.078
4  Thailand 12 4 3 12 10 1.200 487 485 1.004
5  Japan 11 4 2 13 8 1.625 468 427 1.096
6  Cuba 7 2 5 9 15 0.600 530 544 0.974
7  Peru 3 1 6 4 18 0.222 412 531 0.776
8  Chinese Taipei 0 0 7 0 21 0.000 355 527 0.674

For the last game, the qualification outcome could be fallen into one of these three scenarios.

  • If Japan beats Serbia by any score, then Japan and Thailand (as the best Asian team) will qualify.
  • If Japan is beaten by 0–3 or 1–3, then Serbia and Thailand (as the best Asian team) will qualify.
  • If Japan is beaten by 2–3, then Serbia and Japan (as the best Asian team) will qualify.

Match details and consequences

In the 1st set, Japan took an 8–5 edge at the first technical time out. After that Serbia leveled the score at 10–10. Erika Araki spiked to let Japan led 16–14 at the second TTO and then drilled a spike right down the middle to give Japan the set 25–18.[8] Serbia returned to claim the 2nd set 21–25. Japan came back on the 3rd set with a 10-point lead, then 16–6, 18–8, 20–10 and 22–12 before closing the set 25–19. After the 3rd set, Japan had qualified for 2012 Summer Olympics, 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 full power tonight. We have to work on our serve reception in the two months leading up to the Olympics.[9]

Serbia's win also meant it qualified ahead of Thailand, which aimed to reach the Olympics for the first time.[6] Had Japan beaten Serbia, Thailand would have also won a ticket to London along with Japan. But, in this case, 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.[10] Thai captain, Wilavan Apinyapong, was disappointed but said that the Olympic Games remained their ultimate dream and everything.[11]

Investigation

On May 28, 2012, the day after the match, the FIVB by Wei Jizhong released this 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.[7]

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.[7]

Reaction

Some media suspected the investigation result and said that something didn’t seem right.[12] Thai social media sites were bombarded with messages expressing dissatisfaction over the judgement and a Japanese volleyball official insisted that the allegation was unfounded.[13]

References
  1. "FIVB Senior World Ranking – Women". FIVB. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  2. Terra.com.br. "With financial help, Cuba will compete at the Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament" (in Portuguese).
  3. fpvoleibol.com. "Puerto Rico a Japón tras clasificación de Dominicana" (in Spanish).
  4. "FIVB: Perú con opción para asistir al Preolímpico Mundial de Japón" (in Spanish). elpoli.pe. 18 February 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  5. Schedule Archived 2012-05-27 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese)
  6. "FIVB dismisses match-fixing claim against Japan". AP. 30 May 2012.
  7. "FIVB President statement on Women's World Olympic Qualification Tournament". FIVB. 28 May 2012.
  8. "Serbia top Japan in five sets as both teams secure Olympic berths". FIVB. 27 May 2012.
  9. "Serbia coach Zoran thanks players for their efforts in win". FIVB. 27 May 2012.
  10. "Volleyball: Match-fixing claim rejected by world body". AFP. 29 May 2012.
  11. "Match-fixing may have killed Thai spikers' Olympic dream". Thai daily Nation. 29 May 2012.
  12. volleywood.net (28 May 2012). "FIVB Investigates SRB-JPN Match".
  13. "Match-fixing ruled out, Thailand's spikers mourn Olympic dream". Thai daily Nation. 30 May 2012.
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