TEHRAN – Iran’s men’s volleyball team defeated Kazakhstan 3-0 (28-26, 25-16, 25-18) at the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Jiangmen, China on Wednesday.

Morteza Sharifi led Team Melli with 19 points and Kazakhstan’s Maxim Michshenko scored 14 points.

Iran will meet China on Thursday.

A total of eight teams, divided into two round-robin pools leading up to crossed semifinals and a final – to stamp one Olympic visa on January 12.

In Pool A, hosts China, most recently finishing fifth at home at Beijing 2008, are targeting their third Olympic appearance, in the company of reigning 2019 Asian champions Iran, who finished fifth at Rio 2016, their only Olympic participation so far, as well as Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei, who have never made it to the Games as such.

Australia, Qatar, India and South Korea are in Pool B.