Four more places at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games were decided on Thursday (23 October). On the penultimate day of competition at the Incheon 2014 Asian Para Games, Japanese and Thai players guaranteed their presence in the wheelchair tennis competition in 2016, while China's men’s team and Iran's women's team confirmed their places in the sitting volleyball.

All of the Rio 2016 places up for grabs in the continental multi-sport event in the Republic of Korea were decided on the same day, with three-time Paralympic champion Shingo Kunieda, from Japan, winning the wheelchair tennis tournament by beating compatriot Takashi Sanada 2-0 (6-3, 6-1) in the final. In the women’s event, Thailand’s Sakhorn Khanthasit overcame China’s Jinlian Huang 2-0 (6-3, 6-1) in the gold medal match. They are the first athletes from their sport to qualify for Rio 2016.

In the football 7-a-side tournament, Iran triumphed 5-0 over Japan in the final, with goals from Moslem Akbari (2), Hossein Tiz Bor (2) and Hashem Rastegarimobin. However, the Iranians - who won bronze at the London 2012 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games - do not qualify to join Ukraine (who won the European title in August) and host nation, Brazil, at Rio 2016, because the tournament was not considered qualificatory due to having less than the minimum number of teams participating.

Iran put five goals past Japan, winning the football 7-a-side tournament but were unable to qualify for Rio 2016 due to a lack of participating teams (Photo: Incheon 2014)

In the sitting volleyball competition, China’s men lost 3-0 (12-25, 19-25, 27-29) to Iran in the final but still qualified for Rio as the Iranians had already guaranteed their place by taking bronze the world championships in June. This pattern was repeated, in reverse order, in the women’s event as China beat Iran 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-15). The defeated finalists can now book their tickets to Brazil, as the Chinese women had already confirmed their Paralympic place at the world championships.

Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota