The top five teams in the World Ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, Russia received an automatic berth as host, and all other teams had an opportunity to qualify for the remaining two spots.
The two preliminary round winners joined the nations ranked thirteen to eighteen.
Two round robins were played from 8–11 November 2012 in Shanghai and Valmiera.
[4] The winners of each group advanced to the final qualification tournaments.
The two pre-qualification winners joined the nations ranked seventh through twelfth, to determine the final two olympic qualifiers.