TOKYO: World champions Poland produced a superb comeback to beat France by three sets to two and strike a psychological blow at the Rio Olympic qualifying tournament in Tokyo on Sunday.

Dawid Konarski came off the bench to score 19 points as the Poles, who had been on the ropes and staring at a blowout defeat, fought off two match points in the third to win a cliff-hanger 22-25, 13-25, 31-29, 25-17, 15-12.

“It was a beautiful victory for us,” Poland’s French coach Stephane Antiga told reporters after the world’s second-ranked side made it two wins out of two in Japan.

“We never gave up. I’m lucky to have a lot of high-level substitutes who can come in and turn the game.”

European champions France were left stunned after appearing to have battered the Polish into submission with a lightning early surge sparked by some acrobatic play from wing spiker Earvin Ngapeth.

In other matches, Asian champions Iran also hit back from two sets down to beat Canada 27-29, 19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 16-14 thanks to 26 points from Milad Ebadipour.

Australia posted their first win, beating Venezuela 3-1, while hosts Japan were beaten in straight sets by Asian rivals China, going down 25-20, 25-22, 25-23.

Eight teams are contesting four Olympics slots at the Tokyo tournament, which runs until June 5.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2016

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