BTW I heard that there will be a new CVL team based in Shenzhen that is co-sponsored by Serbian sources. There are some rumors that Mihajlovic and some of the former Bayi players will join.
I read about this as well. I wonder how the team will operate being jointly run by the Serbian Volleyball Association. Will they specifically select Serbian foreigners to play there? Coaching staff will most likely have some foreigners, if I'm not mistaken Guangdong has some Serbian assistants.
Natalia is probably going to China.. I don't think that Eczacibasi will make that same mistake twice
Would love to see Natalia and Tandara in China together. The later did say she would like to return, but I do realize Tandara has a daughter who may be starting school soon so going abroad might not be the best thing.
Also, Yan Ni said she will retire, 2021 Tokyo will be her last international tournament. Last tournament is expected to be the National Games, as is convention for Chinese VB players.
We will miss her for 2022 WCh for sure.
She deserves that retirement honestly, such a hard worker and to put out the performance she consistently does through it all. I can't imagine how her shoulder feels after every match, it's always heavily taped up. The middle/setter duo of her and DIng Xia is one of my favorites to watch next to Nootsara and Pluemjit. It helped that they played in Liaoning together which translated easily into the national team. Definitely hard to replace a connection like that. Yao Di and Wang Yuanyuan have nothing similar at all.
Regarding China's future in the middle, those younger players need to step it up big time. None of them is close to the level she or Yuan is at offensively and defensively.
Rabadzhieva had an interview recently and here's what she had to say about the Chinese League.
Regarding where she will play for the 2021-2022:
"Of course I will definitely return to China next season." (When the season ended there were also talks about Robinson confirmed to renew with Guangdong next season so I guess we'll see this duo again.)
She also had some words about Zhu, Zhang, and Ding Xia:
"For me, Zhu Ting is currently the best player in the world's women's volleyball world. I enjoy playing with her very much. You know, she looks so easy to play. She can do everything she can defend, pass or attack. This is the player I admire, because I also play the 4th position. As the main attacker, I should have comprehensive skills."
"There is also Zhang Changning from Jiangsu. She preformed very well this season and is in excellent form. Ding Xia from Liaoning, I don't want to face her across the net because she is difficult to deal with. She is a very powerful setter."
Looks like Tianjin is reloading on more talent. Seen the news that 20 players originally part of Bayi will be joining their men's, youth men's, youth women's, and beach volleyball teams.
Also seen something online about Yuan Xinyue and Wang Simin (Beijing's former libero) possibly joining Tianjin. Was hoping Yuan would go abroad or at least join another team instead of Tianjin.
Serbia is definitely the biggest challenger to China. They have a Boskovic. (three teams have generational players right now. Im not betting against any of them)
Im not sure I'd put the USA there yet. They're a mess
USA fast is something that can disrupt all of the "Big Three" but they'd have to be absolutely perfect to come out on top.
On top of that Serbia and China's A teams haven't faced each other for a long time now. I checked and it seems like it was the Rio Gold medal match that was the last serious match between the two, everything else up until now has been one sided.
2019 World Cup/VNL - Serbia B Team
2018 WCH - Didn't meet each other, 2018 VNL - China B Team
2017 WGP - China without Lang Ping/Zhang Changning/Yan Ni and Serbia without Ognjenovic/S. Popovic (Blagojevic was libero and they had Stevanovic, Antonijevic, Malesevic starting)
Display MoreThere are some other interesting things in that news:
Yuan Xinyue is back with Chongqing (her hometown), so clearly none of the discussions about her transfer worked. Hopefully she goes international after Olympics (covid permitting)
Liu Yanhan went to Liaoning
Gao Yi went to Shanghai (ok, we kind of knew that) and the coaching squad didn't give up on her after not inviting her to NT in 2018-2020
Hu Mingyuan in, Zheng Yixin out ( sitenoise will not be happy)
There are six MBs so it seems like none of the young MBs are to Jenny's satisfaction. In other words 3rd MB is very much still an open discussion
I love Zheng Yixin as well. If she was taller that spot would be hers, her skill are more well rounded than the others. I'm surprised Hu is still there since she is also short like Zheng.
I expected other options at setter/outside hitter since Diao needs to recover and Liu Xiaotong is quesionable. Maybe others will join either in the second stage or there will be a separate location for training younger players for the next cycle, Paris 2024.
Brother sitenoise , would you link me Lang Ping's movie? I can't find it.
Me too please!
injuries just seem to be part of professional volleyball players' life
Athletes in general put their physical body as well as mental health on the line to play the sport they love. Bouncing back from an injury seems like the hardest especially for serious ones. There's that fear you may get injured again that you have to find a way to deal with and not everyone can overcome it.
That's why I get upset when teams take advantage of a players health for their own benefit and rush their recovery process or even worse mislead them about the seriousness of an injury.
I would like to put all of the USNT members in bubble wrap please and thank you 😭😂
Seems like everyone, well maybe not everyone, but more than a handful players on the USA NT had an injury this season (including the ones in Italy).
I think Robinson had an ankle sprain or something in China which is why she didn't play the last few games.
https://sports.sina.com.cn/o/2…doc-iiznctke7306469.shtml
Torn ligament; maybe surgery will be needed. Won't make January NT training (but of course she can join later)
Probably at least 3 setters will be taken to training since they play 6v6 training a lot. Really should take five or six given how Yao Di played in the league...
Like you said with Yao Di's current performance Diao should take as much time as needed to recovery properly and not rush to return, that way she has a better chance to possibly beat out Yao Di for the setter spot.
Was there an update on the extent of Diao's injury? How long will the recovery process take, is surgery needed?
With the NT training already next month she probably won't be able to join them in the beginning. Does Lang Ping call an extra setter(s) to fill in her spot temporarily? Maybe Mei Xiaohan will get more training time.
Who from Rio will be not in the roster for Tokyo?
The ones mentioned above plus libero Lin Li who seemed to lost her touch. Wang Mengjie is currently in better.
Lin might also lose her spot on the NT next cycle as Ni Feifan (Jiangsu) gets better.
Anybody on here got the vaccine or knows someone who did? Would like to know how it went and if they got any reaction after getting it?
Display MoreThe other question is who do we send to VNL if it runs. The focus should be developing players for the 2024 Paris games. Off the top of my head:
OH: Li Yingying, Wu Mengjie, Chen Boya, Li Yao (if she ever learns reception)
MB: Wang Yuanyuan, Gao Yi, Zhang Qian, Yang Hanyu, Zhang Yu, Guo Huizhen, Mao Junyi
S: Mei Xiaohan, Sun Haiping, Yu Jiarui
OP: Du Qingqing, Wang Yizhu, Chen Peiyan
L: Ni Feifan (don't need a second one with the way she's been playing, IMO she's already ready for Olympics but Wang Mengjie has the experience and conventionally only one is brought. If two liberos are taken to Tokyo, then Xu Ruoya stays home but either way Ni Feifan will have to play VNL)
OH: With Liu Xiaotong's current state, Xu Ruoya is the next veteran in my mind they could test at VNL though China is going to miss her jump serves if she cannot come into form. Li Yao is in the same boat as Liu Yanhan, weak receiving outside hitter turned opposite. Like Liu she'll be on the outside looking in if she can't learn to receive. If Chen Boya can learn to receive at either position (OH/OPP) she would be a good pick up for the NT. Seems like she has more potential than Wang Yizhu. I still like her, but just hope she can be more relaxed and not in her head all the time.
MB: My worry about Zhang Qian and Zhang Yu is that despite they have height, they are slow (slower than Yuan and she's taller lol) and also have awkward coordination. Unless they can read setters well and have quick reactions, I don't see them staying in the NT long. Xue Yizhi looked better as a MB than OPP. More mobile than the other middles and fast arm swing, hopefully she's interested in the NT. For someone who never started until this season Guo Huizhen had some bright moments. She should return to Guangdong next season instead of being on the bench for club.
S: I had high hopes for Mei Xiaohan after last season, but this season was hard for her. Shandong's reception wasn't stable and there was a few times I could see her frustration because of that. She's still worth investing in for the future. Hard to say if Sun Haiping is even on the NT's radar since she barely plays being backup to Ding Xia. I would add Xu Xiaoting from Shanghai as another player to train.
OPP: It was unfortunate Chen Peiyan was injured and had to leave this season. After her one and only game she started this season I wanted to see more of her with Robinson/Rabadzhieva instead of Li Yao. She has the athleticism to compete at a higher level, but just needs more experience.
L: Ni Feifan was fun to watch! You can see growth compared to her level last year. I don't think there was any other libero that caught my eye this season other than her.
The last match of this year’s CVL was an anti-climax, I feel. The final was decided yesterday when setter Diao injured herself. I am surprised that a top team like Jiangsu doesn’t have another reliable replacement setter, having loaned Sun Yan to Guangdong this season.
Tonite, both teams didn’t play well. Receiving was erratic and there were too many serving errors. Even more worrying, Zhu seems to have lost the ‘killer’s touch’ even when the blocking from both sides left much to be desired. The only bright spots were the outstanding performances of Li YY and Zhang CN. Xu RY seems to have improved, being able to find angles when spiking. Another surprise was young Chen BY of Tianjin, and Libero, Nee Feifan, with her stellar performance, could be selected by the NT coaches.
I wonder if Rong Wanqianbai had stayed if Jiangsu woud've had a better chance. Yong Le is too inexperienced.
Xu hits some pretty sharp angles. She would be someone to try out during VNL if Liu Xiaotong doesn't come in form. Chen Boya has potential and doesn't seem as stiff as Wang Yizhu, she just needs more playing time. I was surprised the coach went with her instead of Yu Junwei or Yang Yi.
Pretty sure Jiangsu will win, they don't need Diao for the qualifiers in January, and the real tournament is right after the olympics in mid-late September 2021. And yes, for some reason, it's a big deal in China (mostly with regards to job placements for players after retirement).
When do you think the NT is going to begin training?
Is it just me or does Zhu get away with "tips" because sometimes it looks like she's throwing the ball? Maybe I'm just used to seeing slow tips.
They'll need it for the National Games preliminaries (I think in January or February) when they won't have Zhu Ting. Although they should make the final 8 regardless.
Also, how funny is it that Wang Yizhu has been the one who was being developed throughout the season with 4 NT players and gets replaced by Chen Boya in the finals? (not funny as in haha, funny as in weird).
I feel like Wang's shortcomings is more mental, like she overthinks too much which isn't helping her improve.
Since it looks like Jiangsu will come shorthanded and be runners up this season, I hope they win the National Games. Isn't it more prestigious than being league champions?
Also, there's a chance that Gong Xiangyu will go back to her original position (setter) for game 3.
My worry if they do go that route is if Wu Han or whichever player they have at opposite can be stable in reception unless Zhang and Xu Ruoya will be in charge of that.
Also their middle Wang Chenyue left the match yesterday after her injured leg acted up again. It will be another loss if she can't play. She's their biggest block in the middle to slow the ball down.
