USA among the first men’s teams qualified to Tokyo 2020

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, August 12, 2019 – The United States, Brazil, Italy, Poland Russia and Argentina have joined host Japan as the first men’s teams qualified to the volleyball tournament of the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020.

USA defeated the Netherlands 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 17-25, 25-21) to finish Pool B with a perfect 3-0 record for the tournament.

Matt Anderson and Aaron Russell were the best scorers for USA with 19 and 18 points, respectively, while Dutchman Nimir Abdel-Aziz was the best scorer of the game with 23 points to his name.

In Ningbo, China, Canada (2-1) proved their superiority over Finland with a straight-set 3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-20) victory in Pool F. 

In St Petersburg, Russia, Cuba (1-2) defeated Mexico (0-3) in three sets by Cuba in the last game of Pool E. Both teams failed to qualify for next year's Olympic tournament.  

In Varna, Bulgaria, Egypt managed to win their last match in Pool A as the Pharaohs beat Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-17, 31-29, 25-17).