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Germany became the first team to secure a spot in the semifinals of the men’s continental Olympic qualifier, after Belgium defeated Czech Republic in five sets – 3-2 (21-25, 28-26, 25-20, 22-25, 19-17) – with captain Sam Deroo and main setter Stijn D’Hulst resting, while Jolan Cox hammered out a fantastic 41 points, including five aces. Their team finished the tournament on a 1-2 win-loss record without a shot at making the semis.

The Czech serving made the difference in the first set, contributing as many as four aces towards the 25-21 win, shaped up with an off-the-block spike by Lukas Vasina for the winning point. The Belgians recovered from a six-point gap, which the Czechs maintained for a while during the second set, to prompt an exciting epilogue. With Jolan Cox spearheading the offence, Belgium caught up at 20-20 and pushed the set deep into overtime. Wout D’Heer brought the set to an end with an ace for 28-26. In the third set the lead changed hands several times. After 20-20, however, the Belgians were unstoppable. On D’Heer’s serving, they scored five in a row, crowned by a mega rally, in which they defended a number of powerful Czech attacks before Kevin Klinkenberg finished it off with a kill block for 25-20. In the money time of a very tight fourth set, Czech Republic proved more focused and levelled the match after 25-22.

The fierce battle continued in the tie-breaker. The Czechs recovered from a six-set deficit to take a 13-11 lead, but the Belgians denied all four of their match points before dramatically stepping ahead again with Tomas Rousseaux spiking for the 19-17 close.