Olympic volleyball qualifiers: Turkey beat Croatia 3-1

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s national women volleyball team defeated Croatia 3-1 on Wednesday to earn their first win in the European qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Croatia won the first set 28-26. But Turkey clinched the victory with a comeback after winning the next three sets by 25-12, 25-20 and 25-21 in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn.

Turkey were beaten by Germany 3-1 in their first game of the European qualifiers on Tuesday.

Turkish national team compete in the Pool B along with Germany, Croatia and Belgium.

Turkey will face Belgium in the third match on Friday.

The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Poland and Azerbaijan in the Pool A are also competing for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The winner will secure a place in the games scheduled between July 24-Aug. 9.

Qualifiers begin with the pool phase, which will head to semifinals featuring the top two teams from each pool. The winner-takes-all final is set for Jan. 12.

Italy, Russia and Serbia already secured spots for the 2020 Olympics.