September 5, 2009. On day 4 of the 2009 CEV Men’s European Championships, Slovenia, Estonia, the Czech Republic as well as Turkey booked their ticket home as 4th ranked teams in their Pools. The other twelve squads move on to the Playoff Round, which will take place from Tuesday to Thursday in Istanbul and Izmir.

In their last game of the tournament Greeks played against last ranked Slovenia. Even when the Slovenians dominated, the Greeks played great at the end of each set and deservedly celebrated finishing first in Pool C.

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Argentina, August 30, 2009: Ahead of 3000 visitors, Argentina have managed to qualify to World Championship in Italy 2010, beating Colombia 3-0.

With crowd behind them, Argentina players got a quick lead 5-1 blocking Alexander Moreno spikes in first set. The score was 8-3 heading into the first technical time-out. Argentina kept making pressure from serving while Colombia attempted different spiking combinations in an effort to score. Argentina was dominant in all fields while Colombia was helpless, loosing 25-15.
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Komaki, Japan, August 30, 2009 —There was a victory glow around the Japanese team and tears of joy for Iran, but a massive disappointment for Korea on the last day of the Asian Pool H qualification tournament for the 2010 FIVB World Championship at Park Arena Komaki on Sunday.

Japan (3-0) and Iran (2-1) took the two remaining tickets from Asia, but Korea (1-2) and Kazakhstan (0-3) will not be going to Italy next year after an emotion-packed final day of qualifying.

After finishing their three-match schedule with a 2-1 win-loss record by beating Kazakshtan, the Iranians had to wait for the result of Japan-Korea before knowing their fate.
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San Luis, Argentina, August 29, 2009 – On a balmy, plus 30-degree day signaling the end of winter in Argentina, Colombia and Argentina continued their scorching-hot performances in South American Pool A of qualifying for the 2010 World Championship in Italy.

Colombia won its second match in as many days with an 0-3 (18-25, 16-25, 23-25) cakewalk over winless Bolivia, while favorites Argentina hardly broke a sweat against Chile, romping to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-18) victory.

The wins set up a crunch match on Sunday, the last day of the competition, between the two undefeated teams, with the winner picking up the final ticket for Italy 2010. That team will join Venezuela and Brazil, who received a bye to the Final Round as defending champions, as South American representatives.

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Komaki, Japan, August 29, 2009 – Japan took a big step forward on the road to Italy and the 2010 FIVB World Championship by winning their second straight match of the Asian Pool H qualifying tournament at Park Arena Komaki on Saturday.

The hosts followed up their 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan on Friday by toppling Iran by the same score and becoming the only team of the four to win two games.

Iran and Korea both have one win against one defeat, while Kazakhstan have lost both games, meaning that the two qualifying places for Italy will be decided on Sunday. The third and final day of the round-robin competition will open with Iran taking on Kazakhstan before Japan renew their fierce regional rivalry with Korea.
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Komaki, Japan, August 28, 2009 — Iran and Japan made winning starts to the Asian Pool H qualifying tournament for the 2010 FIVB World Championship at Park Arena Komaki on Friday.

Iran beat Korea 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 15-12) in the opening match of the four-team round-robin before Japan held off Kazakhstan 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-21, 25-16) in the evening showpiece to send the local supporters home happy.

With Kazakhstan to play on Saturday, followed by Japan on Sunday, the pressure is really on the Koreans to win both games in order to finish in the top two and qualify for the 2010 World Championship in Italy.

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San Luis, Argentina, August 28, 2009 — Argentina, fresh off a fifth-place showing in the 2009 World League, are the overwhelming favorites to claim the final South American berth at the 2010 World Championship during the third round of qualifiers at Ave Fénix Stadium this weekend.

Runners-up at 10 of the last 12 South American Volleyball Championships, including the latest edition that finished last week with Brazil winning their 27th title, Argentina is the undisputed second-best team on the continent.
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