Poland has defeated host Portugal at a men's volleyball tournament to qualify for the Beijing Olympic tournament.
The 2006 second-place winner in the World Championships earned its place Sunday with a 25-21, 25-19, 26-24 victory that secured first place in the four-team event in Espinho.
Poland advances to the Summer Games for the third time in four editions. The loss denied Portugal its first ever chance to compete at the Olympics. Poland joins China, Brazil, Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Serbia, the United States, Venezuela and Germany at the Olympics.
Also Sunday, Puerto Rico beat Indonesia, 25-21, 25-21, 25-22, to place third. But only the winner of the tournament qualified for the games in August. The final two teams will emerge from the last qualifier under way in Japan.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
