China NT 2023

    In the blink of an eye, the Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship came to a successful conclusion in Thailand, and all the Chinese women's volleyball players have returned to China to continue preparing for subsequent games. Most of the players will return to the provincial teams and participate in club training to prepare for this year's Volleyball Super League. However, some players rushed to support the NT and flew to the Ningbo Beilun training base in Zhejiang to prepare for the upcoming OQT (competition time: September 16-24, 2023).


    According to the latest news, Wu Mengjie, the star player of the second team, has quietly arrived in Beilun to participate in training in recent days (along with Yang Hanyu & Zhong Hui). Her appearance is undoubtedly a surprise. Since being selected for the national team training list, Wu Mengjie has not reported to Beilun yet. Now that she has finally been called up, it means that Wu Mengjie, who's dubbed as 'Xiao Zhu Ting' (the Little ZT), has an excellent opportunity to rise to the top, patching the current weakness in the main attacking line, as the current shorter Wang Yunlu, Du Qingqing, Zhong Hui are not quite effective in dealing with those tall MBs from the strong teams of the European and American continents. And judging from the current situation, Cai Bin also intends to promote Wu Mengjie, it depends on whether Wu can seize the opportunity.


    According to the latest news from the front, DQQ, the backup player of 1996, is suspected to be dropped from the NT training list. DQQ suddenly appeared in Beijing recently. Now with Wu Mengjie joining, DQQ suddenly left. One must grasp that after two years of hard work, Wu Mengjie is moving step by step to be a comprehensive main attacker. Her first pass defense has been significantly improved. Coupled with a wealth of offensive methods, it is not unreasonable for Wu Mengjie to take over DQQ's position. While DQQ indeed has no competitive advantage.


    We hope that in this new round of adjustments, Wu Mengjie can successfully gain a foothold, perform more exciting performances, and help the NT achieve greater glory. (Via Baidu Sports, 2023-09-09)


    “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

    Quote from samsara

    It happens that this kind of thinking is not mine alone, a recent article posted at the Sohu Sports also adopted the similar position. The article basically talked about the reactions to the defeat of the Chinese team at the Asian Championship to the host team. And aside from being carried away by missing the championship by a razor-thin margin, actually the Chinese team already achieved some gains by the second team. The team did not return with empty hand. Judging from the current situation, we can definitely see hope from young players like Wu Mengjie in the first team. You may read the whole article (CN) here (Sohu Sports, 2023-09-08).

    Agreed that it is an achievement, even if it’s runners-up. The team could’ve been stronger if there were better options on the bench. As I said before, players can have a bad day or get injured, so it’s important to have strong reserve players. WMJ is a good attacker, but poor in receiving. and it got worse as the match progressed, but she had to keep on playing because we didn’t have any viable options.


    Talking about options, why isn’t Zhuang Yushan selected for the ‘A’ team or the ‘B’ team? She’s MPV/best OH in the u21 World C’ships and eventough it’s an age group event, their standard is close to the senior players. In fact I heard a few of the 3rd place Brazilian u21 team are joining their team for the OQs. To understand how good she is, have a look at the final match between China and Italy. Jump to set 5, around 2.12.00 minute mark, when Wang Yifan was serving at 8-5. The Italian attack was picked up by Wang herself and our Libero Zhu send it to the front by a high pass. Zhuang was able to control this ball with good positioning and timing to deliver a ‘super spike’.... and she is consistently hitting shots like this.

    Quote from Julian Chow

    Agreed that it is an achievement, even if it’s runners-up. The team could’ve been stronger if there were better options on the bench. As I said before, players can have a bad day or get injured, so it’s important to have strong reserve players. WMJ is a good attacker, but poor in receiving. and it got worse as the match progressed, but she kept on playing because we didn’t have any viable options.


    Talking about options, why isn’t Zhuang Yushan selected for the ‘A’ team or the ‘B’ team? She’s MPV/best OH in the u21 World C’ships and eventough it’s an age group event, their standard is close to the senior players. In fact I heard a few of the 3rd place Brazilian u21 team are joining their team for the OQs. To understand how good she is, have a look at the final match between China and Italy. Jump to set 5, around 2.12.00 minute mark, when Wang Yifan was serving at 8-5. The Italian attack was picked up by Wang herself and our Libero Zhu send it to the front by a high pass. Zhuang was able to control this ball with good positioning and timing to deliver a ‘super spike’.... and she is consistently hitting shots like this.

    brazilian are completing the full list only...didn't make the cut


    Any player that was at u21 is going to this olympic qualifiers

    Quote from Julian Chow

    Talking about options, why isn’t Zhuang Yushan selected for the ‘A’ team or the ‘B’ team? She’s MPV/best OH in the u21 World C’ships and eventhough it’s an age group event, their standard is close to the senior players. In fact I heard a few of the 3rd place Brazilian u21 team are joining their team for the OQs. To understand how good she is, have a look at the final match between China and Italy. Jump to set 5, around 2.12.00 minute mark, when Wang Yifan was serving at 8-5. The Italian attack was picked up by Wang herself and our Libero Zhu send it to the front by a high pass. Zhuang was able to control this ball with good positioning and timing to deliver a ‘super spike’.... and she is consistently hitting shots like this.

    Perhaps Zhuang Yushan (born in 2003) will make up the NT Training List in the next cycle. Let's see her being given chance in senior team then. I will choose Zhuang i/o Zhong Hui (born in 1997) for the NT team (A/B). Who knows Zhuang can be the Chinese version of Gabriela Guimaraes. I think there's a limit on how many players can be called into the NT training list (those who being called in receive salary from the NT coffer), and also the schedule is tight to the games... it'll also affect who's in, who's out... in short there are many considerations that outsiders can't really fathom. But why not start first Zhuang with the second team? On the hindsight I think coach Zhao also made a mistake by not including Zhuang into his squad instead of the lesser options of Duan Fang or Wang Yizhu. But perhaps the thinking was U21 WCH was too close with the Asian Championship, it'd be too exhaustive for Zhuang, also no time for training together (yet the squad mostly comprised of the Universiade one).


    I don't really like Wang Yunlu (born 1996) being in the NT first team (another Wang Yimei at the transition time to Lang Ping !??), but she has been working very hard for so many years, so perhaps this is her last opportunity with the NT. And the coaching team will know better why one stays and the other not. No one wanna have a weak team if you have a better option on hand. For sure I am happy to see Wu Mengjie (born 2002) being included into the NT training. There are some speculations at what the actual role Wu may play in the OQT or Asian Games squad! That Du Qingqing (born in 1996) being dropped out was also a positive decision. Let see the actual line-up in play when the games kick off.


    “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

    Prospective players of the post-2000s era, with five strong players worth focusing on the NT training


    You know the reason why the Chinese women's volleyball team is facing a limited choice of players available at present is because a large number of players retired after the Tokyo OG, leaving limited resources available for the time being.


    Countless experiences and lessons have taught us that in order for a team to thrive for a long time, talent cultivation is the extremely important thing!


    So, besides Li Yingying, what 'Fresh Blood' are there in the Chinese women's volleyball lineup that are worth focusing on cultivating?


    The most eye-catching player is Wu Mengjie from the Jiangsu women's volleyball team. She has been well-known for a long time and has also spent many years in the NT second team. She has not received prime opportunities but she has been persisting in training, and her skills have become more comprehensive.


    Zhou Yetong also received the best OP at the Asian Championship. She came into attention in the 2022 Asian Cup with great explosive and powerful attacking capability. In the context of the national team's shortage of strong player in the OP position, she is worth looking forward to. Moreover, her diverse spiking techniques and left-handed attack make her very distinctive, and she is expected to enter the national team in the future and become a good support for the main attacking line.


    In the U21 World Championship, there were also three outstanding players, namely Zhuang Yushan who won the best OH, Wan Ziyue who won the best MB, and Zhu Xingchen who won the best libero. Zhuang Yushan has great cultivation value in the OH position. Although she is not very tall, she plays with a unique style and is very stable on the court. She is very capable of mobilizing the atmosphere, and is very daring to play. She has a flexible mind and is a typical player who uses her brain to play! In the future, there is also an opportunity to enter the national team for key training!


    Wan Ziyue's attacking capability as an MB has become more comprehensive, and her outstanding contribution in blocking has made many people seeing in herself the former figure of the "Great Wall" of the Chinese women's volleyball team. Moreover, her height is outstanding, her jumping ability is also very good, and her shots are powerful enough. There are many possibilities in her future development!


    In addition, the libero Zhu Xingchen is also attracting attention. Although her skills are not yet very mature, she has a good foundation and a good competitive temperament. In the current situation where there are limited talents in the libero position, if she continues to improve her skills, she may have the opportunity to partner with Ni Feifan! (Sohu Sports, 2023-09-12)


    “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

    OQT roster


    主攻：李盈莹、王云蕗、仲慧、吴梦洁

    副攻：袁心玥、王媛媛、高意、杨涵玉

    接应：龚翔宇、郑益昕

    二传：刁琳宇、丁霞

    自由人：王梦洁、倪非凡

    As the OQT for the women's volleyball approaches, the final rosters of 14 players for each team are attracting more and more attention. Some media has revealed the 14-person list of the Chinese women's volleyball team to participate in the Olympic qualifying tournament. As everyone had guessed, Ding Xia and Wu Mengjie replaced Xu Xiaoting and Du Qingqing. (12 September 2023, Liaoning Sports plus Shandong Sports creators via Tencent (QQ) News)



    “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

    Edited once, last by samsara ().

    The official roster of Asian Games 2021 (2023):

    S - Diao Lin-yu, Ding Xia

    OP - Gong Xiang-yu, Zheng Yi-xin

    OH - Li Ying-ying, Wang Yun-lu, Zhong Hui, Wu Meng-jie

    MB - Yuan Xin-yue, Wang Yuan-yuan, Gao Yi

    L - Wang Meng-jie


    Just Yang Han-yu and Ni Fei-fan wouldn't join it.

    My favourite roster of Chinese (in 2022)
    male NT:
    S - Yu Yao-chen, Chen Lei-yang
    OP - Jiang Chuan, Dai Qing-yao
    OH - Zhang Jing-yin, Yu Yuan-tai, Liu Li-bin, Fu Hou-wen
    MB - Zhang Zhe-jia, Peng Shi-kun, Li Yong-zhen, Jiang Zhen-yang
    L - Yang Yi-ming, Yang Tian-yuan


    female NT:
    S - Yao Di, Diao Lin-yu
    OP - Gong Xiang-yu, Sun Xiao-xuan
    OH - Li Ying-ying, Wang Yi-fan, Wu Meng-jie, Zhuang Yu-shan
    MB - Yuan Xin-yue, Wang Yuan-yuan, Zheng Yi-xin, Liu Yu
    L - Ni Fei-fan, Xu Jia-nan

    Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 12 -- On this day the Chinese Volleyball Association (CVA) announced the list of 14 players to participate in the women's volleyball qualifying rounds of the Paris Olympics, including Olympic champion Ding Xia and main attacking rookie Wu Mengjie.


    The women's volleyball qualifying event in Group A of the Paris Olympics will be held from September 16 to 24, 2023 at the Beilun Sports Center in Ningbo, Zhejiang. The eight participating teams are China, Serbia, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Canada, the Czech Republic, Mexico, and Ukraine. The competition adopts a single round-robin system, and the top two teams will directly qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.


    The 14 players of the Chinese team are Li Yingying, Wang Yunlu, Zhong Hui, Wu Mengjie, Yuan Xinyue, Wang Yuanyuan, Gao Yi, Yang Hanyu, Gong Xiangyu, Zheng Yixin, Diao Linyu, Ding Xia, Wang Mengjie, and Ni Feifan. Among them, Rio Olympic champion Ding Xia and rookie Wu Mengjie did not participate in this year's VNL with the team, but they returned to the team this time.


    The CVA also announced the list of 12 Chinese women's volleyball players participating in the Hangzhou Asian Games on the same day. This list is basically the same as the list participating in the Olympic qualifying events, except for Yang Hanyu and Ni Feifan. The women's volleyball competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games will be held from September 30th to October 7th, with the Chinese team in the group stage alongside the Indian and North Korean teams.


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    If one subs Volleyballworld TV then (s)he can watch all the OQT matches there. CCTV-5 (Sports) already announced that they will cover live all matches of the Chinese team (but not sure about other Group A's matches of other teams).


    “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

    The long-awaited list of 14 players for the Chinese Women's Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament has finally been released.


    Everyone is paying attention to the main offensive position. The focus of attention is mainly on two players, namely Wu Mengjie and Zhong Hui. Who among these two players will play a bigger role in the team.


    In the recent VNL tournament, Zhong Hui, the captain of the Shanghai team and who performed very well in the domestic league last season, entered the final roster of the national team coached by Cai Bin for the first time and followed the NT to participate in the VNL. Even during the preparations for the VNL, some media reporters saw that Zhong Hui was assigned to the main lineup with Li Yingying, so there was even a saying that Zhong Hui would be among the starter players in the VNL.


    But later it turned out that this was not the case. Even in the first few matches of the VNL, Zhong Hui was not fielded. It was not until the last match of the first leg that she got the chance to play for the first time, but the effect was not very good. Throughout the entire VNL, her playing time was only more than that of the young libero Ni Feifan and the MB Gao Yi, and she did not play an important part. And after she came on court, this lack of height main attacking style did not seem to be particularly mature in the team, and the effect was not very good.


    Wu Mengjie, who previously won the championship at the Chengdu Universiade and the runner-up of the Asian Championship with the second team and was successfully elected as the scoring champion of the tournament, successfully entered the NT first team roster, and will follow the NT in this Olympic qualifying tournament.


    This is also the very first time in Wu Mengjie's career that she has represented the Chinese First Team in such a top competition. Although she has represented the Chinese team in senior events such as the Asian Cup and Asian Championship many times before, those were only the Chinese team's substitute lineup and were not considered the strongest lineup of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team.


    Being able to rank among the top 14 players can be seen from the fact that Wu Mengjie's recent series of wonderful performances have successfully impressed Cai Bin, and he finally recruited this young player into the first team. In fact, since Cai Bin coached the Chinese women's volleyball team, he has been criticized for the issue of lineup rotation, including the promotion of young players. This time Wu Mengjie is selected, we'll see how effective is such decision. (A Zhejiang sport writer, 2023-09-12, via Baidu Sports)


    “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

    After the Paris Olympics qualifying tournament, the women's volleyball event of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou will be held from September 30 to October 7. A total of 13 teams will participate, divided into four groups A, B, C, and D. The Chinese women's volleyball team is in Group A with the Indian and North Korea teams.


    October 1st, 19:00 CHN vs. IND


    October 2nd, 19:00 CHN vs. PRK


    Only 12 players can register for the Asian Games. The Chinese women's volleyball team has added Yang Hanyu to the MB position and Ni Feifan to the libero position for the Paris OQT roster. The rest remains unchanged.


    In the Asian Continent, if the Chinese women's volleyball team competes, it will have the upper hand position, moreover if the team sends its main lineup. At present its main opponents are the teams from Thailand and Japan. The other teams pose no threat. The Chinese Women's Volleyball Team also sets target to defend its championship title in the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games! In the 2018 edition, the team won the gold medal defeating the Thai team in straight set in the final held in Jakarta. The South Korean team won the bronze defeating Japan.


    “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”

    Quote from samsara

    In the 2018 edition, the team won the gold medal defeating the Thai team in straight set in the final held in Jakarta. The South Korean team won the bronze defeating Japan.

    China had Zhu Ting and South Korea had KYK. These two players had a great impact on their respective teams. It is appropriate to call them legends. Saw the Fivb Instagram calling Kurakut as a legend. I don’t think she deserves to be called a legend - not yet too early. Besides, she hasn’t been the catalyst to Turkey NT decisive victories.