Defending champions Brazil and runners-up China are on top of the leader board and have accumulated enough points that assured them of a final six berth at the FIVB World Grand Prix on Saturday.

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Even though Japan did not accumulate enough points to land in the top 4 spot of Division 1, being the host nation, they are automatically qualified, while the Netherlands are the winners of Division 3.

The fifth spot will be taken by the champions of Division 2 with Czech Republic battling it out against Bulgaria.

That means only one ticket remains for the 6^th and final spot for the knockout rounds that will be held in Tokyo, Japan next week.

Four teams in Division 1 have a chance to claim the last spot.

Brazil landed in top spot defeating all of its preliminary round opponents and has 23 points while China has 17 points.

Serbia, who defeated China in a thrilling five-setter Saturday, has 13 points along with Turkey. Russia and South Korea have 10 points.

The point system is as follows: 3 points will be given to a team that won outright against their opponent, 2 points if they won in five sets, and 1 point is given to those who lost in a five-set match.

Sunday is the final day of the preliminary rounds.

The Olympic Gold medalists of the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics Brazil have dominated the tournament winning nine Gold medals, five Silver medals and one Bronze medal in the 21 years of the event.

The United States followed with five Golds and two Bronzes while Russia has three Golds, four Silvers and three Bronze medals.

China, which won the tournament in 2003, claimed five Silver medals and three Bronzes.

As of press time, Korea defeated Serbia 3-1 while Russia was triumphant over Turkey and now has a four team tie.

TagsOlympics, volleyball, fivb