The two semifinals of the 2020 Women's European Olympic Qualification Tournament ended on Saturday. Turkey claimed a tough win of 3-2 over Poland after a comeback match. The scores of the five games were: 19-25, 25-18, 23-25, 33-31 and 15-11 respectively. The last three games were totally heated up before Turkey took the win thanks to their richer experience.

In the other semifinal that had ended earlier, Germany defeated the Netherlands 3-0. Though the scores of each game were also close (27-25, 25-23, 25-22), Germany were in advantage for most of the time.

Such results meant that the Netherlands, which put up exciting competition with China in the semifinal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will miss the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

The Netherlands' absence isn't good news for China. Of the seven teams that are already qualified for Tokyo, China, USA, Russia and Italy will definitely be in Group B. Whether Turkey or Germany make it out of Europe, that team will also join Group B. Considering the strengths of these teams, Group B will no doubt become the "Group of Death."

By contrast, the competition in Group A – Japan, Serbia, Brazil – will be easier. Since no team in this group can pose any threat to Serbia, that team will probably make the quarterfinals as No. 1 of the group.

That will make things interesting for China. As the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup champion, China should have no problem making it out Group B. As long as the team ranks top 3 in the group, the chance to meet Serbia before the final will be small. However, in order to win the gold medal, China must defeat any of the possible opponents. Trying to win every game and making no mistakes is always the priority for the team in Tokyo.