As the Asian qualification tournament for next year's Olympic men's volleyball tournament is set to start here on Monday, the four teams for the event are gearing up for the only Olympic berth open for grab.

With Chinese Taipei generally thought the weakest squad for the three-day event, hosts China has to beat both Japan and South Korea before qualifying for the Olympic Games starting September 15 next year in Sydney.

Competition schedule has been set as follows:

December 27, Monday: Chinese Taipei vs South Korea, China vs Japan;

December 28, Tuesday: China vs Chinese Taipei, Japan vs South Korea;

December 29, Wednesday: Chinese Taipei vs Japan, China vs South Korea.