Russia beat host Japan on Saturday to snatch one of the last four London Olympic berths with its sixth-successive victory at the women's Olympic volleyball qualification tournament in Tokyo.
The Russians won in straight sets 25-22, 25-20, 25-20, with Ekaterina Gamova contributing 26 points and Evgenia Estes and Evgenia Merkulova both scoring nine.
With 16 points at the top of the eight-team table, Russia has guaranteed an Olympic berth.
The defeat dropped Japan dropped to fourth place and must win its last game against Serbia on Sunday to rule out the possibility of being overtaken by Chinese Taipei, which plays Russia.
South Korea and Serbia are second and third, both with 12 points after six games.
Already qualified for the 12-team London tournament are hosts Britain, Italy, the United States, China, Algeria, the Dominican Republic, Turkey and Brazil.
