Russia beat Spain in Fukuoka on Sunday: 25-21, 25-13, 25-15.

“Spain did not play as well as they did in the European championship. For us, this is the start of the second half of the World Cup and we were determined to start it with a win,” said Russian coach Vladimir Alekno.

“We kept the momentum. It was a very important match for this reason. Hopefully, we can keep our form right to the end,” he added.

The top three winning teams will go on to qualify to play at the Beijing Olympics.

Read more: Russia down Spain in vollebyall World Cup

In other games, Argentina defeated Puerto Rico 19-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-21, 15-13, while Japan squeezed through to a 25-17, 19-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-9 win over African champions Egypt.

In Okayama, world champions Brazil beat Australia 25-19, 25-19, 25-21 for a 5-1 win-loss record.

World bronze medallists Bulgaria whipped South Korea 25-20, 25-20, 25-19, while the United States outclassed Tunisia 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17.

Bulgaria’s coach Martin Stoev said he was relieved to get his team back to winning ways after two straight defeats.

“Everything was good in today’s match but we probably could have done with a better points difference. It’s important because points could be a big factor in deciding the first three places,” said Stoev, whose team is lying in third place in the standings.

Russia are top, with Brazil second.