Chinese volleyball faces challenges on climbing road

　　Our reporter Zhuo Ran

　　2022 is the first year of the Paris Olympic cycle. The Chinese men's and women's volleyball teams have frequently appeared in the international arena. gap.

Generally speaking, the Chinese men's and women's volleyball team, which is in the process of changing from old to new, faces opportunities as well as challenges.

　　The women's volleyball team is gradually on the right track

　　The shadow of the defeat in the Tokyo Olympics still exists, Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning are absent, Yan Ni and other veteran players have retired... Last year, Cai Bin took over the coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team in a difficult situation.

　　Last year's World Women's Volleyball League was the first show of the new Chinese women's volleyball team under Cai Bin.

In the first week of competition, the Chinese women's volleyball team reversed the Dutch team, defeated the Turkish team, and defeated the Italian team.

In the following two matches, the performance of the Chinese women's volleyball team was mixed, and finally broke into the top eight of the World Women's Volleyball League with 8 wins and 4 losses in 12 games, achieving the set goal.

Although they lost to the Italian team that won the championship in the quarter-finals and missed the semi-finals, the new Chinese women's volleyball team made people see the impact and hope in this debut with a setting tone.

　　Coach Cai Bin said bluntly after the game that the 13 matches of the World Women's Volleyball League were very valuable experiences and helped the team find the direction to work hard.

Although the team is still immature, in the game, the two Mesozoic main attackers Jin Ye and Wang Yunyu from the Beijing Auto Women's Volleyball Team dared to fight hard and made up for the vacancy on the main offensive line as much as possible; Li Yingying, Gong Xiangyu and Yuan Xinyue passed Constantly honed, also took on the heavy responsibility of offense and defense.

　　Before the start of the Women's Volleyball World Championships, perhaps not many people can say with confidence that the Chinese women's volleyball team can enter the quarterfinals.

But when it came to the World Championships, the Chinese women's volleyball team defeated Argentina, Colombia, Japan and the Czech Republic with four 3-0 scores in the group stage. defeat.

In the semi-finals, the Chinese women's volleyball team defeated Puerto Rico, the Netherlands and Belgium in five rounds, successfully advanced to the quarterfinals and achieved the set goal.

Facing the Italian team again in the quarter-finals, the Chinese women's volleyball team was weaker than their opponents in all technical aspects, losing 1 to 3, and finally ended the World Championships with sixth place.

　　From the World Women's Volleyball League to the Women's Volleyball World Championships, in just a few months, this Chinese women's volleyball team has shown obvious progress, played morale and self-confidence, and let the outside world see a new look.

However, in the confrontation with the world's top teams such as Italy and Brazil, the team's lack of experience, unstable state, and many mistakes were also exposed.

　　Cai Bin said that young players have grown up rapidly through the experience of the World Championships, and there are regrets and gains.

Facing the world's top teams, the Chinese team must continue to tap their potential and build a system with a balanced offense and defense.

　　Last year, we saw potential and hope from the Chinese women's volleyball team.

This year, there are also intensive international competitions such as the World Women's Volleyball League, the Asian Games, and the Paris Olympic qualifiers waiting for the girls. I look forward to the Chinese women's volleyball team with its fine traditions making great achievements.

　　The men's volleyball team recognizes the strength gap

　　In 2022, the Chinese men's volleyball team will win the Asian Cup for the first time in 10 years, which is a great encouragement for the Chinese men's volleyball team and even Chinese volleyball.

However, in the eyes of many fans, if you want to rank the surprises brought by the Chinese men's volleyball team this year, their victory over the mighty Brazil team in the World Men's Volleyball League may be even more impressive.

　　In recent years, there have not been many opportunities to compete in the international arena, and the Chinese men's volleyball team has rarely performed well.

In the first three rounds of the World Men's Volleyball League in Brazil last year, the Chinese men's volleyball team lost all three games, and the whole team was in the shadow of defeat.

Facing the host Brazil team in the last round, no one believed that the Chinese men's volleyball team could win.

But in the game, the boys played to the extreme in terms of offense and blocking, and finally overturned the world's number one Brazil team 3-0 and won a victory to rebuild their confidence.

In the subsequent games, the Chinese men's volleyball team was affected by multiple factors and failed to continue their stable performance. Finally, they handed over the report card of 3 wins and 9 losses in 12 matches.

　　After a short break, the Chinese men's volleyball team entered the Asian Cup without stopping.

After beating Chinese Taipei and Bahrain 3-1, Pakistan, Iran, and South Korea in 5 rounds, the Chinese men's volleyball team entered the final.

Relying on Zhang Jingyin's outstanding performance and the team's good performance in blocking and serving, the Chinese men's volleyball team defeated the Japanese team 3-0 in the final and won the championship in one fell swoop.

　　In the Asian Cup, the Chinese men's volleyball team made active adjustments many times when the score was behind and finally won, which boosted the morale of the team and ushered in a bright moment.

But in the men's volleyball World Championships since then, in the confrontation with the world's top teams, the Chinese men's volleyball team has not won a game, and the group is at the bottom, and they have seen the gap between themselves and their opponents.

　　Through a series of international competitions, the combat effectiveness and cohesion of the Chinese men's volleyball team have been further improved. It has also allowed the outside world to see the responsibilities of senior national players such as Zhang Jingyin, Dai Qingyao, Yu Yaochen, and Peng Shikun, as well as the growth of young players such as Yang Yiming.

At the same time, the team has also exposed shortcomings and shortcomings, which the head coach Wu Sheng and the players attach great importance to.

Wu Sheng said that there is still a big gap between the Chinese men's volleyball team and the world's high-level teams, "not only in terms of technology, but also in terms of physical fitness, fitness and understanding of volleyball."

　　This year, the Chinese men's volleyball team also has heavy international competition tasks, the most critical of which is the Paris Olympic qualifiers.

Let us wait and see how the boys will perform.

　　"Beijing Daily" January 6, 2023, page 11