May I ask where Yan Ni is? I saw her played some matches in the group stage then she just... disappeared I guess.
Was she too injured to play? Even so, it's still kind of weird that I didn't see her with the team or on the podium at all.
Thanks!
She left for treatment.
Although that may be true, we're talking about the Chinese NT here where a players health isn't taken as seriously. How many Chinese players that continued to play for the NT over 30 haven't had any serious/recurring injuries? Not many...
If Ding Xia can regroup and find her old form back then I wouldn't mind having her around, but if she can't then she should be on the back burner next cycle. The focus should then be on others moving forward.
LOL Ding Xia has come in first for physical fitness tests in the National Team as recently as last year. She ran faster than Middle Blockers 6 years her junior. I think her poor performance stems more from the mental rather than physical. She tends to not perform as well when she's anxious.
After China is done, maybe they can lease out their healthy team members, including Lang Ping 🤣 I'm sure they'll each be highly sought after.
China B team beat Italy A team in the 2019 VNL finals before. Yao Di, Gong and Wang MJ were in that team. Anything is possible wow.
They're finally in rhythm, this is the China team we're more familiar with. Still not in top form though, hopefully they'll be even better.
Hello everyone, try this link if y'all want to watch CCTV5/CCTV5+ for Olympics. No VPN needed for me (I'm outside China). https://www.olevod.com/index.p…id/26767/sid/1/nid/1.html
Zhu Ting posted this on her social media：
Thank you for your concern.
I am well!
(After she got hit on the eye while blocking Akinradewo's spike in today's match).
Wow interesting to hear how each country tries to keep their players from going abroad, wonder how that works though
Not familiar enough
In China if you're basically stuck in the club that you joined when you started playing pro volleyball unless your home team approves your transfer. For Yuan, it was almost impossible for her to play overseas as she was part of the Bayi Team which is basically the sports wing of the PLA, but then after PLA reforms last year, the Bayi Team was disbanded, so I guess she got to choose another club to join (or maybe someone decided for her) and she chose Tianjin. Zhu Ting's a special case because her home club Henan was always one of the weakest teams in the Chinese league with or without her and I guess she got strong endorsement from Lang Ping to play overseas to improve her skills.
Kinda scary to think if these 3 women performing at their peak during OG.
Indeed, then it'd be one level up from their performance at World Cup 2019.
One thing about Zhu is she is always calm and collected and all about business. And she is always reliable. Dont make mistakes that often. Definitely my fav players these days.
Crossing fingers so that Gabi & Zhu can play together one day.
Yup it was rare that she made mistakes like touching the net in the middle of a rally. She really wasn't in her best form, but I'm sure she will regain it in time for the Olympics. Plus, Zhu is such a beast at crunch time, and apparently I'm seeing the same with her teammates Li and Zhang as well. I would love to see Gabi and Zhu play together too.
What happened to Zhu? Should we be worried?
Nope, she may not seem like she was in the best form, but when I took a look at the stats, she had the highest score in the team again. 16 points (29 spikes 14 won, 2 blocks) today, compared with Zhang's 14, Li's 13, Yuan's 11 and Gong's 10.
WTF ! it’s not even her fault....Diao stepped over the line and stepped on her foot ! LYY is vital to the NT ....if she’s hurt physically or mentally, it might jeopardise the chances of the whole team.
Unfortunately, the netizens are not letting it slide this time round because apparently she has injured six other players before (there's proof). I don't believe it's intentional though, I think it's more to do with the way she approaches the net.
Ding Xia just wrote on her weibo: OMG, after today, I have a new buddy in the setter position @Gong Xiangyu 
Gong's reply: You want a high or low ball? Fast or slow ball?
For context: Ding Xia is a setter with spiking highlights on Youtube.
Ding Xia's reply: I can spike any ball. You forgot that time when you set Yuan (Xinyue) a fast ball?
Sorry if this is a bit random but just saw news that the movie about the Chinese WVT is going to be released on 25 Sept. The English name is "Leap".
It's about the Chinese WVT's experience from 1981 World Cup champions all the way to 2016 Rio Olympics.
Cast includes Gong Li (super famous Chinese actress) as coach Lang Ping, Lydia Bai (Lang Ping's daughter) as player Lang Ping.
Most of the Rio squad are acting as their own characters. It's not a documentary but a movie so I'm sure there'll be some drama and not so realistic elements. Nonetheless, I thought it'll be interesting to see the players acting. Here's a trailer and one of the movie OST MVs.
Display MoreThe reason Brazil, USA, China and Japan always remain on top. It is because of course they invest a lot in volleyball and they have millions of girls playing the sport. But mostly important, the reason they always stay among the top teams is simply because they have no competition in their region, so their spot in any major tournament is always a guarantee.
Netherlands finished 4th in the OG and WCH. But now they did not qualify for the OG. But if they had to play against Thailand, DR, Argentina, they would have qualified easily. And once in the Olympics they could still fight for a medal.
Brazil, China, USA and Japan all went through some generations that were not so good...but still they played in every major tournament. European Teams can`t afford that. In order to compete or stay on the top they gotta truly be the best of the best.
Take Serbia as a example. It is uncertain if they will be in Paris. But if they had to compete against Argentina, DR, Thailand.....It would be certain they will be in Paris because even if their level drop, that would still be enough to beat Argentina, DR, Thailand,Korea.
Well that applies only if Brazil, USA and China got their tickets at the Continental stage. But no, they all got into OG at the first round by beating teams from all over the world. China got the Tokyo ticket by beating three European teams and the Rio ticket by winning the 2015 World Cup. Same applies to Brazil and USA. I'm not saying they don't have regional advantage, but in this case, they clearly got in because they were stronger than the other teams.
that's a joke. Vitra should go ahead and take Naz and Eda to play for them lol
why not hahahah I would love to watch a fun CWC
So clubs agents can look at that who they will buy from Chinese league .only Zhu ever played top clubs in euro.now it is a time to test the ability of other Chinese NTplayers
It’ll be great if more Chinese players can go abroad to play but it’s not so easy for them to transfer out because of how the system works in China. (Btw I found Kosheleva’s vlog pretty informative. She explained how the Chinese league system works.) Essentially their home clubs have to approve each of their transfers.
Zhu was lucky in a way because her home team Henan isn’t a very strong team in the first place. With or without her, Henan still wasn’t going to be a medal contender, so they were happy to let her go abroad. But the rest of the NT players come from some of the top teams in the league (Jiangsu, Tianjin etc.) and with the high expectation for results, I don’t see these clubs letting their players go abroad anytime soon.
Posted this in the Club World Championship thread but since this is transfer news, thought I would post an update here too. Fivb CWC website shows that Zhang Changning, Yuan Xinyue, Gong Xiangyu and Wang Mengjie (all NT players) are all in Tianjin’s CWC roster, with Zhu Ting as captain. The club already has Li Yingying, Yao Di, Wang Yuanyuan and Destinee Hooker. [Chinese NT + Hooker vs the other clubs?]
Additionally, players from Shandong: Yang Hanyu, Du Qingqing and Mei Xiaohan will likely join Guangdong Evergrande for CWC.
Breaking news. It has been confirmed by FIVB website that Zhang Changning, Yuan Xinyue, Gong Xiangyu and Wang Mengjie (all NT players) will join Tianjin to play in the CWC, with Zhu Ting as captain. The club already has Li Yingying, Yao Di, Wang Yuanyuan and Destinee Hooker.
Essentially Chinese NT + Hooker vs the best clubs in the world. I’m so excited 
Additionally, players from Shandong, Yang Hanyu, Du Qingqing and Mei Xiaohan will join Guangdong Evergrande for CWC.
Fujian just loaned out two of its best players?? Wow
Even with Lin Li and Zheng in the team, it will be difficult for Fujian to win Beijing and Bayi to make it out of the group stage, so they might as well allow their players to play with a better team and gain exposure at the CWC.
