Chinese NT 2018

This article run by the Eastday Sports (19 Sep) speculates that most likely Diao will be cut from the final 14 list. Many fans said that Diao Linyu is directly marginalized in the photos, standing so far away from the adjacent teammate, Hu Mingyuan.

Nonetheless, it also points out that Lang team may possibly bring all the 15 players in the family portrait to Japan, with the one not selected to act as a member of officials, helping in training process and so forth, as well as to get the major intense competition atmosphere and pressure from close distance for future personal growth. In the case of Diao, she's still young and has the prospect in future. But again, this is only a speculation or prediction.

Notice that in the family portrait, there's no Lang's good sister, Lai Yawen. Some folks speculate that Xu Yunli who has frequently appeared in the NT training may take over Lai's coaching role soon one day.

As about the participation of Xu Luyao in the NT training, the article mentions that Lang Ping might wish to observe her potential from a close distance under the NT coaching team's guidance before the young player can really be admitted into the NT training... a reserve talent for the future! After all, Xu Luyao can play as the main attacking force but also can take the role of an all-round talent.

(…)

http://msports.eastday.com/a/180919233314184000000.html

EDIT: just read that the BRA team will be traveling to Japan bringing along its 15 players. Therefore it has a good ground for the Eastday Sports article's speculation that the CHN team may possibly bring all the 15 players in the family portrait to Japan, regardless who is being dropped finally.

Congrats to China in the Asian Cup! I think the most important match was against Thailand in the semifinals, who brought their main team. China was up 2 sets, but let Thailand take the next 2. Blocking was the key during the Finals against Japan.

Liu Yanhan was unstoppable! Although this was against weaker teams, I think Lang Ping knows she still has talent which is why she brings her back every year. It's a matter of getting Liu to perform this same way consistently against top teams which she has yet been able to do. Her reception also has not improved overtime.

Sun Haiping also played well making smart decisions and distributing the ball evenly. She seems a good future prospect to invest in. Though it will be hard for her to get playing time during the league season playing behind Ding Xia in Liaoning, but she will get good experience learning from her.

Zhang Yichan/Duan Fang provided stable contributions. Coach Shi Hairong's decision to make Yang Zhou start in the third set of the finals was a smart move. Her block was strong, creating problems for Japan. She kind of reminds me of Yan Ni, why doesn't Lang Ping train her?

Is Zhang Changning and Zeng Chunlei really prepared and healthy for the long world championship tournament? Makes me wonder if part of the reason Lang Ping has yet to release the 14 player roster is to see how others played in the Asian Cup that could take their spot if one of them is not ready. The only other option would be Liu Yanhan.

Quote from bumpsetspike

Congrats to China in the Asian Cup! I think the most important match was against Thailand in the semifinals, who brought their main team. China was up 2 sets, but let Thailand take the next 2. Blocking was the key during the Finals against Japan.

Liu Yanhan was unstoppable! Although this was against weaker teams, I think Lang Ping knows she still has talent which is why she brings her back every year. It's a matter of getting Liu to perform this same way consistently against top teams which she has yet been able to do. Her reception also has not improved overtime.

Sun Haiping also played well making smart decisions and distributing the ball evenly. She seems a good future prospect to invest in. Though it will be hard for her to get playing time during the league season playing behind Ding Xia in Liaoning, but she will get good experience learning from her.

Zhang Yichan/Duan Fang provided stable contributions. Coach Shi Hairong's decision to make Yang Zhou start in the third set of the finals was a smart move. Her block was strong, creating problems for Japan. She kind of reminds me of Yan Ni, why doesn't Lang Ping train her?

Is Zhang Changning and Zeng Chunlei really prepared and healthy for the long world championship tournament? Makes me wonder if part of the reason Lang Ping has yet to release the 14 player roster is to see how others played in the Asian Cup that could take their spot if one of them is not ready. The only other option would be Liu Yanhan.

Display More

Liu Yanhan only prolong her stay at the NT. She has not been on the A team since 2015 World Cup so she has a long way to improve to make her case in the future. Lang Ping likes to give opportunities to young prospects and Liu Yanhan does not fit that category. I think her best scenario is being a backup like Liu Xiaotong if she improves her reception.

Sun Haiping's weakness is her blocking. Lang Ping likes tall setters or ones that can block. Wang Na is an example of missing this criteria. Hopefully she improves on that. I think playing on another team is the better option because a player needs playing time in order to improve, especially for young talents.

Zhou Yang was part of the A team that Lang Ping cut along with Wang Yimei and others so don't expect her to be back on the team. Heard she might retire soon because she has a teaching certificate. Good luck to her.

Lang Ping always release the roster at the final moment so no need to speculate anything. We can only hope everyone is 100% healthy and ready to play. WCh is grueling tournament and the hardest to win for CNT. We hope the drought will end this time.

Quote from tomen

Sorry. Yang Zhou's surname is Yang. The most famous Zhou Yang is a short track speed skater.

Thanks for the correction. Miss typed the name.

Unavoidable, difficult decision but one player must be left out at the end, this time it is Diao Lin-yu as rightly speculated by the Eastday Sports in the article above, last time in the 2016 Rio the pain was with Zeng Chun-lei... but this time Zeng is in

so I wish Diao won't break and remains keeping a positive outlook for future (who knows the team brings her along to the championship as a special aide to get the direct touch with the WCH atmosphere and pressure)...

Wish the best for the team! FIGHT!! The expectation for the Chinese team in this toughest tournament is very high... while the grouping is not favourable for the Chinese squad, for being in the same group as ITA, TUR and AZE, then USA and RUS in the 2nd Round... Lang team needs to make a break away from this encirclement! It has been over three decades since the last glory in this tournament. Wish the team good luck. My heart is with them!

From the chart made by SINA SPORTS, I merely added the English names of the pass winners.

The interesting thing that I observe from this table, some past winners are no longer exist, or separated/broken up, some other names fell down so deep to become the unknown (irrelevant) nowadays.... only a very significant tournament with long enough history may see through all these developments...

Well, taking this opportunity, I wish all here who celebrate the autumn festive, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

THE 2018 AVC (Asian) CUP, the 6th Edition

Yes, Congratulation to the Chinese Team #2 to win the 6th edition of the AVC (Asian) Cup for Women's Volleyball, 2018 hosted in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. This is the 5th title for the Chinese team, and Thailand is the only other team that ever wins such title, that is in the 2012 edition in Almaty, KAZ.

I am also just aware that there's another continental Asian tournament that's more prestigious than the AVC Cup, that is the Asian Volleyball Championship

The Final Standings:

1.China -- 2.Japan -- 3.Thailand -- 4.Chinese Taipei -- 5.Vietnam --

6.South Korea -- 7.Australia -- 8.Iran -- 9.Philippines -- 10.Kazakhstan

NOTE: Some interesting titbits, the full match replay of the Final of the AVC 2018 between China vs Japan is being BLOCKED in youtube. Bizarrely this is the only match being blocked on the ground of copyrights claim. According to youtube, a corporate named the Trend VG3 CO., Ltd (Thailand) laid the copyrights claim to block the sharing of this particular replay!

This blockage repeats the anomaly from the Women's Volleyball in the 2018 Asian Games. The Pool match between China vs South Korea is being BLOCKED in youtube on the ground of copyrights claim by KBS, the South Korean broadcast corp. or so, said youtube... again, only this particular match is being blocked!

The Chinese women's volleyball team led by Lang Ping arrived in the new Chitose Airport, Hokkaido, Japan on the 25 September, took a morning flight at 08:00 BJT, to officially start the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship campaign, with the blessing of more than one billion people.

Pics from the Weibo of the Chinese volleyball fan. On lollipops along with Hu, Ding Xia seemed to manage the passports of the half of the team.

And here are few pics of the team's training session early in the morning in the rental training hall, Japan (26 Sep) posted by another fan in Weibo.

After winning the Asian Games, the Chinese women's volleyball team continued the World Championships preparation non-stop. After the training, the girls of the women's volleyball team did not even spend time with their families in the Mid-Autumn Festival, the second most important traditional celebration for Chinese people after the Chinese New Year. They rushed to Japan in hurry to adapt to the World Championships' environment and living conditions. On the day before the expedition to Japan, the Chinese women's volleyball team announced a list of 14 participants, including Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning, dropped Diao Linyu, in a very traditional “44222” lineup.

The target set to the team by the head coach Lang Ping is a modest one, to play in the Top Six.

Chinese Source

I'm wondering how Lang Ping is going to deal with her OH players. Liu Xiatong, Li YingYing and Zhang Changning are all excellent OH and each of them has their own specificities. But they need to have enough of playtimes to keep their performance on top. I really like to know how Lang Ping is going to solve this puzzle. As for Gong, I like her recent performance. She's far from perfect. But her attitude and her confidence improve a lot.

Quote from hoyhoy

I'm wondering how Lang Ping is going to deal with her OH players. Liu Xiatong, Li YingYing and Zhang Changning are all excellent OH and each of them has their own specificities. But they need to have enough of playtimes to keep their performance on top. I really like to know how Lang Ping is going to solve this puzzle. As for Gong, I like her recent performance. She's far from perfect. But her attitude and her confidence improve a lot.

If you asked about Lang's minds, I don't think anyone here knows

However, if it's okay that I answer you with my own thoughts, here are my guesses:

(1) for critical matches or tough opponents like TUR, ITA etc.... play Zhang ZN subbed with Li YY

(2) for light matches like CAN, BUL etc... play with Liu XT interchangeable with Li YY or the less likely, some playing time for Zhang too according to the factual development on court

I expect Lang to play the bench players against CAN to also give rest to the starters (MY WISHES )... but observing Lang guide all this time, it won't be a straight case like that. She may start first with the usual starters perhaps with just one or two tweaks but even the Captain Zhu will still be on court, only after the "battlefield" is well under control then Lang may experiment more with the sub players just typical Chinese ways to proceed on conservatively... don't favour the element of surprise moves let's see tomorrow

I came across some thought-provoking comment by some volleyball fan, in particular to enlighten the many simpletons in the internet realm:

Quote

In watching volleyball one must calm down, does not rush a premature conclusion just because some particular match, the USA just had a 3:2 win over Thailand, playing harder, but I think the teams with the most prospect to win the championship are still China and the USA. Italy seems to be menacing but not yet quite mature, in the group match possibly Italy will win over China, but in the later stages, the more influencing factors in the elimination game is not only the technical ability but more importantly the experience and psychological handling, Italy is likely to be knocked out, of course, in the next year or two the Italian team will be the most competitive contender. Keyboard pals are also advised to complain less or belittle their players. The players are training and working very hard and striving excellently, but after all, people are not machines, they may be facing some kind of physical or mental fatigue or some injury problems in some particular match. Having the tolerance and understanding upon others is actually having one's forgiveness within one's own mind.

This is the characteristic of modern volleyball today. No team is in the absolute lead to allow such team to easily win over opponents of all styles. Just no one!

Interesting comment! And it's made before the match of ITA vs CHN, a day earlier. Well, let's observe as games are evolving... time will reveal the virtues.

Because of what happened at the 2014 WCH with Xu Yunli getting injured, Lang Ping took the risk of bringing a 4th middle blocker instead of a 3rd setter this time. Yang Hanyu has yet to play a match. Even if Diao Linyu came, I don't think she would've been able to change the result.

Right now every position on Italy's team is strong.

Zhang Changning isn't 100% healthy and this is Li Yingyings first year with the NT. Liu Xiaotong was also ineffective. All 3 couldn't help Zhu.

Gong Xiangyu plays more of a defensive role (reception), so I dont expect her providing that much offense. Is Zeng Chunlei still injured?

I agree that China should be on the lookout for new talent. It's only a couple months till 2019 then it will be a year till Tokyo 2020. The main goal will then be getting them experience, but will they have enough time to catch up to other national teams?

Liu Xiaotong's seat in the NT should be occupied by someone else. She doesn't play well both defense and offense.

Gong is starting to turn up in the second round! Hope this continues against USA and Russia.

The Chinese team needs to win the next two matches over the major opponents. It's the only way to secure a spot in the last six on its own hand, not to rely on others' outcomes. The next two matches against the USA and RUS will be the decisive ones. Btw all the major matches, both pools, will be done on the last two days of the Round 2. The ITA leads the four-horse race in Pool F, still the team can't afford to lose both the remaining two matches to RUS and USA. The other half, Pool E, the picture is clearer. SRB is already in, leaving NED--BRA--JPN to contend the other two spots. I hope the Chinese squad will bring its A game to deal with the two top contenders in Pool F, and every key players will give her utmost contributions along with Zhu. What an epic tournament!

Between the two major opponents, USA and RUS, the latter one is slightly the less heavier one to take for the CHN squad. Now even more with the unfortunate absence of Goncharova due to some injury, I just learned the pitiful news at Volleymob.

Anybody can tell me why Lin Li is not in the starting lineup most of the time? Is she having any injury or they want to give the second libero more exposure?

Quote from ballisround

Anybody can tell me why Lin Li is not in the starting lineup most of the time? Is she having any injury or they want to give the second libero more exposure?

I think it's because shes making more mistakes and errors than Wang Mengjie. The second libero is just simply doing a better job and Lang Ping gives her the start.

Quote from bumpsetspike

I think it's because shes making more mistakes and errors than Wang Mengjie. The second libero is just simply doing a better job and Lang Ping gives her the start.

Ok, thanks...I didn't see much of Lin Li on court, that's why I ask but Wang is playing well. There also seem to be fewer blocks by China in the last few matches especially against Thailand.

The Chinese team just upped its games near the closing of the Round 2. I expected a victory over the USA team but not in 3-0 fashion, a more close-call match. Now the team already secured its spot in the final six. Keep on the good trend in the Round 3 till the end.

If one watches throughout the earlier matches of the Chinese team, Lin Li played not so good compared to Wang Meng-jie in this tournament, so no wonder Wang is the Lang Ping's first choice at the moment.

Even though Zhang Changning is not in her top form she's still a backbone member of the team and still contributes significantly, and is still the preferred choice over the young Li Yingying. I noted her key role especially in the receiving. Gong Xiang-yu just shines from match to match, sharing the load of Zhu Ting, except in that one against ITA whereas Gong got blocked many times, but then all teammates did not play good after the first set while opponent played awesomely for the rest of the match.

Quote

Today's match against the USA team is the best game the Chinese team ever plays since the start of this tournament. The success rate of all three side attacks was 50%. Zhu Ting and Gong Xiang-yu were flying on both wings. Zhang Chang-ning was dragging her legs, she took 25 passes in three sets. Wang Meng-jie's passes and defense today were amazing.