Women’s volleyball team beats Japan and secures place in the Olympic Games

The Brazilian women’s volleyball team is guaranteed to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In a decisive game against Japan this Sunday (24), Brazil played a very strong collective game to win by 3 sets to 2 and guarantee a place in the Olympics. The partials were 25/21, 22/25, 27/25, 15/25 and 15/10. The duel took place at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, in Tokyo, in the seventh round of the Pre-Olympic.

Gabi Guimarães was Brazil’s great leader on the court and scored 23 points, the highest score of the match. José Roberto Guimarães’ team went through delicate moments throughout, such as in the fourth set, in which Japan dominated, but managed to overcome the tense duel against the hosts together.

Brazil closes the Pre-Olympic with six wins and one defeat, against Turkey, which secured the first of the two places in the group, with 21 points. With 16, Brazil surpasses Japan and takes the other spot.

“The feeling that we did what we committed to do. It was a year of a lot of struggle. We knew the difficulties against Turkey, but today’s game beat anyone. We need to be very well mentally, I’m very happy for our posture and proud of this team”, said setter Roberta after the match, in an interview with Sportv.

“I’m very proud of this team. We didn’t give up on the game at any point, we all continued to believe even in the most difficult moments. It’s this determination that we need to take to Paris. The Pre-Olympic was a lot of overcoming, we knew that this group had a lot potential. We have to perform better next year than we did this year. We were emotional at the end of the game because of Walewska, so we pay tribute to everything she represented for us and will always represent”, said striker Gabi, also speaking to Sportv.

Brazil started more connected on the court and commanded the first points of the game, but Japan got the right moment to make a technical stop and managed to balance the match. The first set remained exciting. With Julia Bergmann’s leading role, Brazil managed to gain an advantage to confirm the set when the duel was tied at 21-21 and the team ended with a 25-21 victory.

The situation reversed in the second set. Japan started better, opened 6-1 and Brazil called for a stoppage. Japan led by leaps and bounds and opened up a 19-12 lead in the set, but Brazil tried to give the fans excitement, led by a great performance from Gabi Guimarães. With six points in a row, the difference fell to one point. Brazil quickly tied the set, but their great efforts did not prevent Japan from closing the set 25-22.

The third set was even more competitive than the previous ones. The teams measured strength, point by point. Japan managed to stay ahead for most of the set, but with Brazil always equalizing the score. José Roberto Guimarães’ team brought the set to a 25-25 draw and managed to turn things around, finishing at 27.

Unlike what had happened until then, the fourth set was not balanced at all. Japan dominated Brazil from start to finish, kept at least six points clear for most of the set and closed with a 10 lead, 25 to 15, taking the game to the fifth set.

The Brazilian team started the decisive set very well, but Japan soon showed that they would not give their opponents an easy life. With 10-10 on the scoreboard, Zé Roberto Guimarães asked for time to reorganize the team for the final stretch of the game. The strategy worked, Brazil scored four points in a row, including an ace from Priscila Daroit. In another serve from her, the match point came soon after after an error in the reception and nailed the Brazilian spot. The set closed at 15-10.

Undefeated in the same group as Brazil and Japan, Turkey was the first to win a place in the Olympics, with just three sets lost in seven matches. This Sunday, the place was confirmed with a 3-0 victory over Belgium. Also qualifying for the Olympics, in another group, the Dominican Republic beat the Netherlands 3-2 and secured a place at the Paris Olympic Games.