Undefeated Japan booked a spot in this summer's Athens Olympics on Friday with a convincing 3-0 victory over South Korea in the final women's volleyball qualifying tournament in Tokyo.
Japan, ranked seventh in the world, will make its first Olympic appearance since the 1996 Atlanta Games, after beating its archrival 25-19, 25-19, 25-15 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium to post its fifth win in a row.
"I believed that we had the power to win and I didn't feel we would lose to South Korea," said Japan manager Shoichi Yanagimoto.
"It wasn't really me calling the shots. The team came through for us and we are determined to bring home a medal from Athens," he added.
Miki Sasaki helped the host rally in the first set, while Ai Otomo added to the pressure with some devastating strikes as Japan eventually dropped the South Korean team to a 4-1 record.
The women's volleyball squad became the seventh team in ball sports to join Japan's Olympic contingent following men's and women's soccer, baseball, softball, women's basketball and women's hockey.
In other matches, Puerto Rico (2-3) notched a lopsided 3-0 victory over Nigeria (0-5) while Russia (4-1) thumped Thailand (2-3) 3-0. Italy dominated winless Taiwan in straight sets and improved to 3-2.