China News Service, Beijing, February 6 (Reporter Xing Rui) On the 4th local time, the 19th round of the Italian Women's Volleyball League ended. Chinese player Zhu Ting's Scandic team defeated Trentino 3-0. Zhu Ting started the game and scored 7 points.
Zhu Ting in the game (data picture source: ICphoto)
According to media reports, during the post-match interview, Zhu Ting responded to issues of concern to the outside world such as her whereabouts after the end of the season and whether she will return to the national team. She said it needed to be considered comprehensively and "it hasn't been decided yet."
At the same time, Zhu Ting revealed the injury to her wrist: "My physical condition and physical function have not been particularly good recently. The competition has been intensive recently and I feel tired. My wrist is still recovering step by step."
Fans who are familiar with the Chinese women's volleyball team know that Zhu Ting has had a long-standing wrist injury. It is reported that as early as 2017, while studying abroad, Zhu Ting injured her wrist because she accidentally "punched" it on the ground, which left the root of the disease. During the 2019 Club World Cup, Zhu Ting's wrist injury showed signs of recurrence.
With the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, treatment for Zhu Ting's wrist has also been put on hold. She did not undergo surgery until after the Olympics. In April 2022, Zhu Ting shared the news of the successful surgery through her personal social media. Soon after, she announced her move to Serie A women's volleyball club Scandicci.
Zhu Ting in the game (data picture source: ICphoto)
This is the second time in Zhu Ting’s career that she has chosen to study abroad. In 2016, she went to Türkiye to play ball. In the three seasons she played for the Turkish Super League giant Vakif Bank, Zhu Ting used her personal ability to drive the team's performance, winning 8 championships in various competitions and becoming a "ZHUper" praised by foreign media.
After switching to Serie A, Zhu Ting's performance is still remarkable. During the regular season last season, Zhu Ting played in a total of 24 rounds and won single-game MVPs many times. In the Europa League, she led the team all the way to the final and scored 30 points in the first round of the final, paving the way for Scandic to be crowned at home.
In May last year, Scandic announced that he would renew his contract with Zhu Ting until 2024. This also means that Zhu Ting has spent most of her time overseas in the past two years.
Zhu Ting holds an ice pack on her head between games. (File photo taken by China News Service reporter Han Haidan)
Since the Paris Olympics cycle, Zhu Ting has missed a series of Chinese women's volleyball competitions including the World Championships, World Women's Volleyball League, Hangzhou Asian Games, and Paris Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
After the end of last season, Zhu Ting returned to China to rest. She visited the Chinese women's volleyball team, which was training at the time, and said that she would fly to Spain to start a new round of rehabilitation training.
Although Zhu Ting is currently in good competitive shape, she has said more than once that the impact of her old wrist injury still exists.
Last year, Chinese women's volleyball coach Cai Bin said that he and the Volleyball Management Center of the State Sports General Administration had contacted Zhu Ting separately, hoping that she would come back to participate in the training and competition of the national team after the end of the Italian season. But Zhu Ting responded that her current physical fitness and injury status are not suitable for the national team's training volume and the intensity of the competition.
As the world's top attacker, Zhu Ting's role in the Chinese women's volleyball team is self-evident. Especially in recent years, the Chinese women's volleyball team has been experiencing the pain of the replacement of old and new players, and its performance in international competitions has been lacking. If Zhu Ting can return, the team's strength will improve and it will also inspire more young players.
There is less than half a year left before the opening of the Paris Olympics. The Chinese women's volleyball team has not yet qualified for the competition, and Zhu Ting is not sure whether she can return to the national team.
There are rarely evergreen trees on the field, and the return of veterans is certainly an unexpected surprise, but the future of the Chinese women's volleyball team still needs to rely on the strength of the new generation to write a new journey. (over)