Russia's women scored their third-straight win at the Olympic volleyball qualifying tournament in Tokyo on Tuesday, beating three-time Olympic champion Cuba in straight sets to stay the top in the provisional standings.
Ekaterina Gamova top-scored with 20 points, while Nataliya Goncharova added 13. The Cubans were led by Yoanna Palacios and Rosanna Giel, who both notched up 11 points.
Russia, the reigning world champion, swept Thailand aside in the first match on Saturday, winning 25-19, 25-18, 25-16 and then beat South Korea 25-16, 25-23, 25-23 on Sunday.
The top four, or the top three plus the highest-finishing Asian team, qualify for the London Olympics.
Russia are joint top of the standings with hosts Japan on nine points. Serbia with six points stands third and South Korea fourth.
Next up for Russia on Wednesday is Peru, which has also beaten only Cuba at the tournament so far.
Already qualified for London are hosts Britain, Italy, the United States, China, Algeria, Dominican Republic, Turkey and Brazil.
