Continental Olympic Qualifier Tokyo 2020

  • well that was too easy, but I was expecting only "one tough match" which happened yesterday. I knew they will play 100% today.


    I think if you consider the whole Olympic cycle, Iran was better than other Asian teams and deserved the quota without any doubt.


    but I hope Ghafour fully recovers for the Olympics, the opposite position was the weak link in this tournament, even though I really can't understand why Kolakovic played with Mahmoudi in last 2 matches, he used to be a very good player, but he is overweight and out of shape, I know experience matters in crucial matches but he was really bad, Yali couldn't be any worse.

    I really think Iran will be much stronger if Fayazi's reception can be improved. Of course, Ghafour could help the offence.


    China have been losing to Iran for 8 years, not a tough match to be expected.

  • My reviews about some OQT games.


    France got themselves one convincing ticket in CEV region. They only lost to Bulgaria in group match, but played solidly in knockout, esp, they made a great comeback in semi final. NG played way much better in NT than in Kazan. He was a carry in NT but he's only the 3rd attacker in Kazan. Patry and Brizard improved a lot. Patry took this opportunity to prove himself as a good OPP in NT in the future. Boyer might regret his bold behavior now. Brizard secured his position as well. He will be a good sub or even starter when Torniutti is off.


    In Asian region, Iran won the last ticket as expected, even without Gahfour and Manavi. The only cheesy thing was: When Iran led 13:9 against Korea in set #5, and Korea catched up at 12:13. Marouf faked his back injury to delay Korean's serves deliberately. Same thing happened to Qatar's libero who acted like a clown and faked his angle injury in clutch time in set #4 in another semi.


    In NA region, Canada won Cuba at 3:2 with a shaky comeback. Sanders had a lot of horrible passes, but they're lucky as Cuba's reception and defense were as bad as always. Simon who's currently the best MB in the world can not save his team by himself only. I can feel his frustration. A controversial call of over-net hit against Simon in set #5 when Cuba led at 4:1 was a turning point. Literally, Canada also got one ticket because no one expects Puerto Rico could make some miracle today.

  • Does Chile have any chance left to qualify?

    Nope. They are quite literally only there to screw Colombia :lol:


    I hope the colochos make it, I feel bad about their loss in the women's and it would be a special first time for them. Also, because VEN or COL wouldn't make any difference for the level of OG.

  • I wonder if the crowd knows Chile is already eliminated ?!


    I didn't see the first match between VEN-CHI. but watched the rest from what I saw both Chile and Colombia are better than Venezuela. it will be funny if Venezuela qualifies at the end.

  • All hosts , Chile, Egypt, China and Germany finished exactly runners-up in their continental OQT !


    Canada is yet to play the last match but no way they lose to Puerto Rico.

  • Yali is obviously better than Mahmoudi who's out of shape after a hiatus from NT for many years. Why did Kolakovic use Mahmoudi instead during the playoffs? It wouldn't make a difference in the final result, though.


    I watched the last match of the South American qualifier, and found both Chile and Columbia decent teams. Hope that they could get more chances to play at the world stage; that experience could accelerate the growth of these teams already with a foundation of modern volleyball. It's a pity that the once legendary Agamez was so close to the Olympics and had to face the relentless fate in the end.

  • Unfortunately they only have themselves to blame. A tournament without Brazil and Argentina is something that doesn't happen everyday. Volleyball is a particularly cruel sport and a great way to stop believing in karma.

  • If Canada took the final berth as expected, then the team distribution of the two pools at the Olympics should be as follows:


    Pool A
    Poland Italy Canada Iran Japan (Host)
    Venezuela
    Pool B
    Brazil USA Russia Argentina France Tunisia
  • All hosts , Chile, Egypt, China and Germany finished exactly runners-up in their continental OQT !


    Canada is yet to play the last match but no way they lose to Puerto Rico.

    well, CHN was sort of a surprise finalist, i think people thought maybe KOR or AUS would be in the final...


    in the women's side, all hosts (except DOM) lost...