Belarus defeated Republic of Korea 56-39 on Sunday (19 June) to claim the final place in the women's basketball tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

With the win, Belarus secured fifth place at the women's Olympic qualifying tournament in Nantes, France, and sealed their return to the Games for the first time since Beijing 2008, when they finished sixth.

Four countries – China, France, Spain and Turkey – clinched qualification on Friday in the same tournament.

Belarus opened the game by scoring the first 12 points. Although Korea tied the contest at 12-12 early in the second quarter, they never led.

As Belarus looked to prevent Korea from mounting any type of comeback, Alabama-born Lindsey Harding remained cool when her team needed her most and finished the match as top scorer with 17 points.

“I'm so excited to be able to play in the Olympics,” Harding said. “This was a lifelong goal of mine and to be able to achieve it is a wonderful feeling. We worked so hard to get here and it has paid off. Rio here we come!”

Draw completed

In Rio, Belarus, Turkey and France will play in group A along with Japan, Brazil and Australia. China and Spain will join reigning Olympic and world champions the USA, along with Canada, Senegal and Serbia in group B.

The women's basketball competition will run for almost the entire duration of the Olympic Games, beginning on 6 August, the day after the opening ceremony, and finishing with the medal games on 20 August.

The group phases will be played in a round-robin format (each team plays the other five in its group), with the top four teams in each group proceeding to the knock-out phase.

Carioca Arena 1 in Barra Olympic Park will be the main basketball venue, while the Youth Arena in Deodoro Olympic Park will stage the women’s group games.

Check out the full game schedule: