Tokyo: A valiant effort by the Thai women's volleyball team in overwriting a two-set deficit to edge Asian powerhouse South Korea 3-2 was in vain as Japan dashed their Olympic dream after restricting mighty Italians to a 3-2 win last night.
Thailand had staged a dramatic comeback to keep their hopes of a first-ever Olympic trip alive for a few more hours by rallying past South Korea, who only needed two sets against their Southeast Asian rivals to seal qualification.
The win at the Olympic qualification tournament gave Thailand two points and improved their tally to nine, while South Korea reached the safe zone on 13 points.
However, when Japan pinched two sets from pre-match favourites Italy in the last match of the penultimate day, the Thai campaign to make it to the volleyball finals of the Olympic Games for the first time in their history ended.
Italy were surprised by the swift spikes unleashed by the Japanese in the absorbing encounter before they were able to power their way past the hosts for a 23-25, 27-25, 27-25, 21-25, 15-9 victory that assured them of a place in Rio 2016.
The Netherlands booked their Olympic berth with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-17) demolition of Peru in another match.
Kazakhstan, the fourth Asian squad in the tournament, remained winless after losing 1-3 (20-25, 25-22, 12-25, 20-25) to the Dominican Republic and gave the Caribbean side their first win of the campaign in the process.
The Netherlands remained perched at the top with 15 points. Italy took second spot following their win yesterday and have 14 points to their credit. South Korea were third with 13 points, followed by Japan (12) and Thailand (nine).
The top-three teams and the best-ranked Asian side advance to Rio.
Not for the first time this week, the Thai fans were kept on the edge of their seats for more than two hours while their team slipped and rallied but ultimately held their nerves to post a memorable win.
Thailand needed to find something special, but the South Koreans also had a lot on their mind. Knowing a win would lock up an Olympic ticket, South Korea were determined to hit their opponents hard.
After opening up an early two-point lead the South Koreans were never led in the first set. Thailand were able to stay in touch until the score reached 13-11, at which stage South Korea put together six consecutive points with Kim Yeon-Koung serving.
Thailand, once again preferring Pornpun Guedpard as their starting setter, rallied briefly to bring the score back to 17-20, but Korea had all the answers late to capture the set 25-19.
Kim Hee-Jin continued her good form from the previous day with seven first-set points, the same as Kim Yeon-Koung, while Thatdao Nuekjang and Ajcharaporn Kongyot led the way for Thailand with four points each.
Kim Yeon-Koung was once again at her best yesterday and although Thailand dominated most of the second set, she kept her team in the hunt and ultimately helped steer her side to an unlikely 25-22 win that secured their place in the Olympics.
Thailand desperately needed a confidence boost and it came in the third set.
With setter Pornpun showing cunning and guile on the net and Malika Kanthong refusing to be intimidated by the South Korean blockers, Thailand managed to keep their dream alive.
Thailand again led nearly all of the set, but let South Korea claw back in the game. On two occasions they held set points, but failed to get over the line both times.
South Korea also held set points twice; they also blew it. Finally, at 28-27, a partial block at the net enabled Thailand to close out the set 29-27.
Thailand had the upper hand almost throughout the fourth set, but again let their rivals close in and eventually make it 24-24 before the Thais could steal two points and wrap up the set 26-24.
Current captain Pleumjit Thinkaow and former skipper Wilivan Apinyapong were steady and helped guide Thailand to the set victory.
By end the of the fourth set, Onuma Sittarak led the charge for Thailand with 21 points, while Kim Yeon-Koung had claimed 31 points for South Korea.
The final set was incredibly tense and error-riddled. Thailand held control early but mistake after mistake kept letting the Koreans back into the set.
At 10-12, it looked as though Thailand may have blown their chances, but they won the next five points over a weary South Korea to take the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
Thailand coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai said his team had played well to beat one of the best teams in the world, while South Korea were happy to have secured their ticket to the Olympics for 11th time on their 100-year anniversary.
Kiattipong said: "This was an excellent performance by my players. South Korea are one of the best teams in the world. All their players perform at very high level."
Thailand captain Pleumjit said: "We are doing our best in each game rather than focusing on going to the Olympics."
Setter Pornpun commented: "The first two sets we were not good enough. From the third set on, we could maintain our form to the end and win."
South Korea coach Lee Jung-Chul said: "We are very happy to secure the ticket to the Olympics. We have achieved our goal, so in that sense, we got our result." Bangkok Post/Agencies