The coaches of Chinese and South Korean women's volleyball teams were quick to deny speculation that "an agreement" had been reached before Sunday's match to ensure both qualify for the quarter-finals at the London Olympics.

China beat South Korea 3-2 on Sunday in the last round of group play, a result that allowed the two Asian teams to reach the last eight at the cost of defending champions Brazil.

When asked if they struck a pre-game agreement on the results, China head coach Yu Jumin responded with a simple word, "No".

South Korean coach Kim Hyung Sil also said: "We wouldn't do this."

With the 3-2 win-loss record, China advanced into the quarter-finals as the second placer of Pool B, while the South Koreans also progressed as the No. 3. They have two wins and three losses.

According to the competition rules, three points are awarded for a 3-0 or 3-1 win, and two points for a five-set victory and one point for the five-set losers.

"When we played against Turkey, we lost 3-2 and earned one point, and today we earned another point to take us to eight (points)," said Kim.

South Korea's top scorer Kim Yeon-Koung also denied the "agreement" rumors.

"We didn't think about this. We had to win and we were glad to get a point, but we tried to fight them all the way," she said.

Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, the first executive vice president of the International Federation of Volleyball (FIVB) who watched the game at Earls Court venue, central London, also showed support to the two team.

"To me, they played normal and both teams play well hard, for me, they play every point very hard, and they play their best and, of course, one team has to win," said Hoffiz.

"No. 1, I can not question the integrity of the Chinese national team and the (South) Korean national team. No. 2, I respect very much of the coaches and the national federation of the two countries. No. 3, the most important is I was there, I saw the match, point by point, I don't think so (agreement) because I see volleyball for more than 25 years, I don't think there's any kind of agreement and anything strange about the match," he added.

China won the match 28-16, 22-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-10.

Yu said the team were not in best form as key spiker Wang Yimei was still suffering from her right ankle injury, which forced her to rest for over two months following a surgery in May.

"We made 100 percent preparation. Wang's injury made us very difficult to play. We are not in the best form, but I'm glad other girls played well and did their best," said Yu.

Wing spiker Kim Yeon-Koung scored a game-high 32 points for South Korea, while Hui Ruoqi paced China with 20 points.

Besides South Korea, China were drawn in the same pool with Brazil, world No.1 America, Turkey and Serbia.

Italy, Russia, Japan, Algeria, the Dominican Republic and host Britain make up the other six-team pool. The top four finishers in each pool advance to the quarter-finals.