Women's World Grand Prix 2017

  • :drink:


    TcIDGIug_eE&t=42s


    That video of Yuan Xinyue makes her look pretty formidable. :lol: And shows her toddler side with the soft put backs.

  • :drink:


    TcIDGIug_eE&t=42s

    Hi guys ! I'm new here!
    Just love team China and Yuan Xinyue especially. What a surprise she has been! I was curious to see how much Zhang Changning would have improved from Rio as many regarded her as the most improved player. . Hopefully she will play in the finals! :super:

  • The thing is, the very best players aren't just tall, they are skilled and quick as well. IMO Rasic is probably the best MB in the world right now. She is obviously tall, but that is not the only reason she is the best. As well as being tall, she is also pretty quick at getting into position to block or attack and she also can read the opponents' setter well to get into the right position.


    My point is that the speed advantage of the smaller teams is just not as big an advantage as the height advantage that the top 5 or so teams in the world have. Tall players can train to be quicker, develop their technique and understand the game better, but small players can never be tall

    i beg to disagree but i think the that got precision is adenizia and carol. they are just overshadowed by their not so little height.. base your comments on the statistics at the recent grandprix....

  • To be honest, YUAN is not impressive except her screaming. She is far from the world top MB.


    I think one of the reasons YUAN stood out for me is that she had more focus on offense without Zhang around and Zhu playing limited minutes in this WGP? The other Middles who stood out for me were BRA and DOM. The MB for DOM seemed like she was involved in every play. I may be guilty of confusing camera time with skill, especially as the camera trains on players who make the mistake as well as the kill. But I didn't see YUAN making a lot of mistakes. She seems extremely quick and fluid on attack for someone that big. I think she's a top 5 at least in this tournament, which isn't "far from the world top".


    What MBs would you give the award to at this point in the tournament?

  • I guess I'm lucky that due to hearing loss, or that I listen to the games at a lower volume level than others, I don't hear this screeching banshee wail


  • I think one of the reasons YUAN stood out for me is that she had more focus on offense without Zhang around and Zhu playing limited minutes in this WGP? The other Middles who stood out for me were BRA and DOM. The MB for DOM seemed like she was involved in every play. I may be guilty of confusing camera time with skill, especially as the camera trains on players who make the mistake as well as the kill. But I didn't see YUAN making a lot of mistakes. She seems extremely quick and fluid on attack for someone that big. I think she's a top 5 at least in this tournament, which isn't "far from the world top".


    What MBs would you give the award to at this point in the tournament?

    To me, she is good MB but not top. some top MBs didn't attend this tournament, but still some MBs from Serbia, Brazil, Russia and even Netherland are much better than her.
    How could you find she is extremely quick? compare with who? Kübra Akman?

  • How could you find she is extremely quick? compare with who?


    :lol: You got me there. I think she is quick compared to herself of a year ago. I guess I'm just impressed by her improvement from Rio.


    I would add the NED middle to those who impressed me this tournament.

  • Yuan is really nimble for her size though.


    In a year or two... I feel she will become a dominating and intimidating force at the net if she develops properly ..

    Favorite players: M: Maxim Mikhaylov, Murilo, Serginho, Aaron Russell, Otavio, Simone Giannelli, Ivan Zaytsev, Tsvetan Sokolov, Michał Kubiak, Mariusz Wlazly, Pawel Zagummy W: Sheilla, Zhu Ting, Natalia, Fe Garay, Fofao, Gabi, Thaisa, Foluke Akinradewo, Wei Qiuyue, Ding Xia, Carli Lloyd, Fabi, Natalia Goncharova, Yuko Sano, Saoris Kimura and Sakoda


    #FreeBritney

  • Yuan is really impressive and one of the TOP MB in the world. Silver at the WCH when she was only 17, and Olympic Champion at age 20.


    This week against Serbia she was China`s top score with 19 points ( 7 blocks). And also 21 against USA...


    and wait?? She`s all that and still only 21?? Vowww..

  • I just read on volleytalk that in the past the "doors" was always open for Antonjevic to join the NT, but she choose not to because she did not wanted to be Maja`s sub. Could this true?


    Yes, there were such rumours. She was saying that playing during the summer was too hard on her body and she needed to rest.


    I guess it could have been both. She really had a lot of problems with injuries since 2012 and she could have found it pointless to sacrifice the whole summer and risk her injury getting worse only to sit on the bench - because, as much as Terzić appreciated her (and he did, and he always praised her a lot), he also made it very clear that Maja was always going to be his #1.
    Also, not to forget that the original plan was for Maja to retire from volleyball after London and Ana would take over. Then obviously Maja changed her mind because she didn't want to go out on such a low note. So perhaps for Ana it really was an issue of having a lingering injury that could always jeopardize her career AND being tired of always having to wait for her chance. IMO it would be understandable.

  • Yes, Adenizia and Carol are also excellent blockers, I know that. But they sure aren't as good as Rasic and I'm sure height is part of the reason why.


    People used to hate on Brazil for their intense celebration but they got used to it. If the other team does not have a problem with it then who are we to tell her to stop her from doing it. It's just part of the game. If you can't deal with it... then watch Tennis' Victoria Azarenka. You might get immune.

    Nooo! Yuan is annoying, Vika is a legend :thumbsup:

  • I just read on volleytalk that in the past the "doors" was always open for Antonjevic to join the NT, but she choose not to because she did not wanted to be Maja`s sub. Could this true?

    I don't know if it's true or not but Ana had really serious injuries. Her achill tendon was ruptured and when she finally came back from her injury, her other achill tendon was ruptured. For me, it is a miracle that she still can play at this level. There was no way that could train with NT during summer as she was recovering.

  • I just read on volleytalk that in the past the "doors" was always open for Antonjevic to join the NT, but she choose not to because she did not wanted to be Maja`s sub. Could this true?

    Hi, rbdfabio! I am the one who wrote that post on volleytalk (ace35). :wavy:


    Reading my own post, I realise I may have been slightly misleading by sounding as if I totally downplay/ignore her injuries. If that's what you got from it, then I apologise. She certainly had several major injuries, that indeed would have forced her to skip some competitions, regardless of any other issues.


    However, I still stand by my ascertain that injuries alone cannot explain her missing every single major competition for 5 straight years, nor can they explain the extreme convenience of her returning to the NT as soon as Maja retired.

  • I think Yuan has been perfectly fine. She is passionate, she craves for wins, and that's why I like her. She helps wake team-mates up when the game wasn't going well with her enthusiasm. Not every sport is like tennis where audience or players are required to keep relatively quiet before the serve. We all value that diversity, and that's why not everyone is watching China's game, but still there is a huge population backing them anyway.


    A person watching the game can choose to turn down the volume a little bit to avoid hearing the scream, but a person simply should not violently shut Yuan up for that's who she is and what she obviously think would work and help the team.


    Some kids scream in the public or in a restaurant, and we say it's fine, because some believe that's perhaps their nature. Why cannot Yuan do that too then? She is young, and even if she isn't, she still has the right of preserving a childhood-craving "nostalgic" value.


    Anyway, hope this page has been turned over. Let's just agree to disagree. The final is about to come, oh yeah woo-hoo! Which team do you think would win the champion of the last World Grand Prix? :cup: