KOMAKI, Aichi Pref. (Kyodo) Japan clinched a spot at next year's men's world championship in Italy with a straight-sets victory over South Korea in an Asian qualifier Sunday.

Japan won 25-23, 25-16, 25-22 to finish the four-team round-robin event with a 3-0 record at Park Arena Komaki. South Korea dropped to 1-2.

Japan and Iran (2-1), a 25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 25-16 winner over Kazakhstan (1-2) in the day's other Pool H match, joined China and Australia, which had already taken the other two Asian berths.

"In Asia, our country has had a hard time winning at junior and youth levels. I'm glad that my players played hard and won all three matches," Japan coach Tatsuya Ueta said.

"At the world championship, we'll try to make it a stepping stone toward the London Olympics," he continued.