Aust women near Rio beach volleyball berth

The Australian women's beach volleyball team will play Vanuatu on Sunday for a place at the Rio Olympic Games.

Australia beat Japan in a tough three-match semi-final at the Asian continental qualifiers in Cairns, but the news was not so good for the Australian men, who lost to China and will play Kazakhstan for the bronze medal.

The men must win to keep their slim hopes of Olympic qualification alive.

World under-23 champions Nicole Laird and Mariafe Artacho del Solar were the heroes for Australia's women, beating Japanese top seeds Sayaka Mizoe and Nishibori Takemi twice in the space of three hours to seal the win for the Volleyroos.

Vanuatu shocked the highly regarded Chinese in their semi-final.

The route to Rio for the Australian men's team has become even more precarious after their semi-final loss to China.

The Australians must beat Kazakhstan on Sunday morning in the playoff for third to secure a berth at the final Olympic qualifying event in Russia.

In the men's gold medal match on Sunday, China take on Qatar for a berth at Rio.