noun
qualifying tournament; preliminaries; trials
Refers to a competition or event held to select participants for a main tournament or higher-level competition. Common in sports and contests.
彼は予選会で優勝して、全国大会への出場権を得た。
He won the qualifying tournament and earned a spot in the national competition.
来月の予
I'm practicing every day for next month's preliminaries.
本戦 is the main tournament or competition that follows the qualifying rounds.
Compound of 予選 (yosen, 'preliminary selection') + 会 (kai, 'meeting' or 'event').