World ParaVolley President Barry Couzner has praised Germany for successfully hosting the final men’s sitting volleyball qualifier for Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images

World ParaVolley President Barry Couzner has said "we owe a great debt" to the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) Germany after staging the final men’s sitting volleyball qualifier for the rearranged Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Duisburg in Germany hosted the tournament from June 1 to 5 which featured the host nation along with Kazakhstan, Canada, Croatia, Ukraine and the United States.

Germany secured the final spot at Tokyo 2020 after claiming a 17-25, 25-13, 25-21, 25-23 victory over Kazakhstan.

The tournament has received rave reviews from World ParaVolley after it was held against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was confirmed by World ParaVolley that there were no positive cases of COVID-19 after 780 tests were carried out.

World ParaVolley also claimed all 15 matches were "conducted smoothly without protest" with the help of more than 50 volunteers and said the competition venue was "beautifully presented at the highest standard".

The event attracted 16,111 live views and 6,644 on-demand views, according to World ParaVolley.

"We owe a great debt to NPC Germany for hosting this event despite the obvious difficulties," said Couzner.

"After the cancellation of the event planned for early 2020, it was clear that for the athletes, the best and fairest way to decide the final team for the Tokyo2020 men’s sitting volleyball competition was to conduct a qualification tournament - not to rely on other means.

"Together with the World ParaVolley volunteers, including in particular, Toralv Thorkildsen as TD [tournament director], and the NPC Germany management team of Katharina Sternal and Christian Schultz, this event demonstrated our return to competition in a very positive manner."

Frank-Thomas Hartleb, sport director for Germany’s NPC, added: "The qualifying tournament has been in the past for a few days now, and I hope that those we welcomed as guests in Duisburg have returned safely to their home countries.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your confidence in hosting this tournament in difficult times. On behalf of all my colleagues who contributed to the success of the event, but especially on behalf of Katharina Sternal and Christian Schulz, I would like to thank you for the constructive and trustful cooperation."