The first portion of the Olympic qualifying tournament ended today with Croatia, Czech Republic, France and Turkey earning spots in the Olympics.

Croatia was up first and won a tough test against Canada 59-56 in the first of four quarterfinals. The Czech Republic raced out to a 17-4 lead after one quarter but had to hold on for a 53-47 win over Japan. Turkey was up next and beat Argentina while France wrapped up the quarterfinals by beating Korea.

Now the four quarterfinal losers get to fight it out for the last remaining spot in the Olympics beginning on Saturday when Japan plays Korea and Canada meets Argentina. The winners will play on Sunday in what is an Olympic play-in game.

Three of the qualifiers will be in Pool A with the U.S., China and Angola with two qualifiers in Pool B at the Olympics with host Great Britain, Australia, Russia and Brazil. I haven't heard yet which teams will be slotted into which spots in the round robin portion of the Olympic tournament.