S. Korea keep Olympics hopes alive

South Korea kept alive their mathematical possibility of reaching the London Olympics Thursday when they defeated China at the men's volleyball qualifying tournament.

The Koreans, who could have missed the chance unless they won at least two sets, squeezed through to a close 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 14-25, 15-13 victory over their Asian rivals.

The winners of the tournament and the best-placed Asian team among the rest in the eight-team round robin competition will qualify for the Olympics.

"I didn't feel any pressure to win or lose. That's why we played an excellent match. I'll do my best for the remaining two matches as well," said Korean captain Kwon Young-Min.

"We didn't feel pressure, while China had to beat us at any cost. I think that ended in this result," he added.

But Korean coach Park Ki-Won disagreed, saying: "It's his individual opinion.

As a player of the national team, everybody must do his best until the very end."

Instead, Park attributed the victory to an excellent job by Park Chul-Woo and Kim Hak-Min who scored a team-high 27 points and 19 points respectively. "We served really well. Park Chul-Woo and Kim Hak-Min led the team to this victory," said the coach.

In the rankings among the Asian teams, South Korea have six points against 11 for Iran and nine for Australia who were to play Japan later. China have eight points.Earlier in the day, Iran whipped Venezuela 25-16, 25-16, 25-20, while leaders Serbia whitewashed Puerto Rico 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 for a fifth straight win to move within a step away from the London Olympics. AFP