What are the highlights of the three Asian Games goals?

Source: Global Times

【Global Times to Hangzhou special correspondent Zhang Zhen, Ma Dexing, Xu Yunfeng, Li Jiayin】Editor's note: The 22nd is the fourth match day before the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and the Chinese women's football team defeated the Mongolian women's football team 16-0 in the debut of the group stage. On the same day, the Chinese men's volleyball team also defeated the Indonesian men's volleyball team and advanced to the final four. The day before, the Chinese men's football team, which won two consecutive games, advanced to the knockout rounds early. The other three "big ball" teams, the Chinese women's volleyball team, the Chinese men's basketball team and the Chinese women's basketball team, are also about to start, and they will attack the Asian Games title defense in Hangzhou.

Soccer: Three big wins

"The whole team is outstanding, and Wang Shuang is also one of them. I hope the players are getting better and better and regaining confidence in the game. After the big victory over the Mongolian women's football team, Chinese women's football coach Shui Qingxia said at a press conference.

The Chinese women's football team began training in Suzhou on September 9 and moved from Suzhou to Hangzhou on the 19th. Due to the previous unsatisfactory performance in the Women's World Cup, the Chinese women's football team is under greater pressure to participate in the Asian Games. In addition, none of the other opponents participating in the Asian Games have fielded their strongest team, and expectations are relatively high that the Chinese women's team will win the gold medal in the Asian Games. The Chinese women's football team also recalled three overseas players, including Wang Shuang, Shen Mengyu and Yang Lina.

Chinese female footballer Wang Shuang

China's opponents in the group stage were relatively weak, with the first match against Mongolia being more like a practice match, with Wang Shuang scoring five out of 16 goals, and Wang Shanshan, Yan Jinjin, Uzhigumura and Zhang Xin also scoring two each. According to the "Global Times" reporter observed at the scene, every pass of the Chinese women's football team in the opponent's half can cause the audience to cheer. At halftime, "Sonorous Rose" was played live, which triggered many fans in the stadium to sing along. Next, the Chinese women's football team will face the last opponent of the group stage, the Uzbekistan women's football team, on the 28th, and the strength of the two sides is still very different. Entering the knockout stage, the Chinese women's football team will be truly tested, and the biggest opponent is the defending champion Japan Women's Team.

Before the Chinese women's football team beat the Mongolian women's football team, the Chinese men's football team defeated the Indian men's football team and the Myanmar men's football team 5-1 and 4-0 respectively, locking the right to qualify for the group in advance. On the 24th, the Chinese men's football team will face the last opponent of the group stage, the Bangladesh men's football team. After qualifying from the group, China will play a third-place team in a group, most likely against the Vietnamese men's team or the Palestinian men's team. If they can make it through, the next opponent will be the defending champion South Korean men's team. The Chinese men's football team was runner-up at the 1994 Asian Games, which was also the team's best record in the Asian Games. Tan Long, a veteran of the team, said: "We will play our best and definitely want to reach the final. ”

Volleyball: Continuous combat

At the last Asian Games, the Chinese men's volleyball team only finished 9th in Jakarta. Now back at home, the Chinese men's volleyball team is dominated by Zhang Jingyin, Yu Yuantai, Jiang Chuan and other famous players, aiming to reach the podium and attack the championship. The team began their group stage on September 20, sweeping Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to qualify for the round of 12 with two consecutive wins. In the round of 12 cross match on the 22nd, the Chinese men's volleyball team defeated the Indonesian men's volleyball team 3:1 and joined hands with the Iranian men's volleyball team to advance to the top 4. The semi-finals will be played on the 25th.

One of the reasons why the men's volleyball Asian Games competition was played first was that the volleyball competition of the Hangzhou Asian Games "collided" with the Olympic qualification match. According to the plan, most of the members of the Chinese men's volleyball team will directly transfer to Xi'an to participate in the Paris Olympic men's volleyball qualification tournament that will start on the 30th of this month after participating in the Asian Games, and they are ready to fight continuously.

In terms of opponents, the Japanese men's volleyball team sent a second-tier team to the Asian Games (the main players prepare for the Olympic qualification tournament), and the overall strength decreased slightly. The defending champions of the Iranian men's volleyball team have played their best and have maintained a winning record in recent years against the Chinese men's volleyball team.

Unlike the men's volleyball team to play the Asian Games first and then the Olympic qualification round, the Chinese women's volleyball team began to enter the "Asian Games time" after the end of the women's volleyball Olympic qualification tournament being held in Beilun, Ningbo. Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao said that despite the absence of the number one star Zhu Ting, the Chinese women's volleyball team participating in the Hangzhou Asian Games still has 7 world champions or Olympic champions such as Li Yingying, Yuan Xinyue, Gong Xiangyu and Ding Xia. Speaking about the goals of the Asian Games, coach Cai Bin said: "To be on the top podium. ”

After the Olympic qualifying match with the Serbian women's volleyball team on the 24th, the Chinese women's volleyball team will have a few days to rest. The players will use the gap between the Olympic qualification and Asian Games competitions to recover and adjust their fitness. According to the Asian Games schedule, the Chinese women's volleyball team will face the Indian women's volleyball team on October 1, and the last opponent of the group stage, the North Korean women's volleyball team, on October 2.

For the Chinese women's volleyball team, their test may begin in the semifinals, whether the opponent is Thailand or Japan, which is the two fierce opponents that the Chinese women's volleyball team must win on the road to defending its title. The Asian Games women's volleyball semifinals and finals will be played on October 6 and 7.

Basketball: Goal defended

Compared with the World Cup lineup, the 12-man Asian Games list announced by the Chinese men's basketball team does not include naturalized player Li Kyle, who has returned to the United States to prepare for the new NBA season. Zhou Qi, who is injured, and veteran Zhou Peng are also not on the list, and Du Runwang, Cheng Shuaipeng and Yu Jiahao join. Due to the fact that the Japanese men's basketball team and the Philippine men's basketball team did not send the main team, coupled with the withdrawal of the Lebanese men's basketball team, the runner-up of the 2022 Asian Cup, the South Korean men's basketball team has become the biggest opponent on the road to the Chinese men's basketball team's home defense title. According to the schedule, the Chinese men's basketball team will recruit the Mongolian men's basketball team and the Chinese Taipei men's basketball team on September 26 and 28. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played on October 3 and 4, with the final on October 6.

In terms of women's basketball, the Chinese team sent the original team to win the 2023 Asian Cup to compete in the Hangzhou Asian Games. Coach Zheng Wei said the title was the only goal. As the defending champion, the Chinese women's basketball team has high hopes from fans at this Asian Games. But the team is also facing some injury problems, Li Yueru and Huang Sijing have been recovering from injuries for most of the time, and have only recently resumed team training. In addition, Han Xu, the inner core of the Chinese team playing in the WNBA, and the team's run-in time is also lacking. Another WNBA star, Li Meng, recently finished the playoffs and is about to leave for China. Zheng Wei said: "The personnel in the preparation process this time are not very neat, but we will overcome the difficulties and try to make up for it through other methods." The Chinese women's basketball team has always relied on the team and the whole, and this time is the same. We want to adjust as much as possible through the group stage and play at the best level at the end. ”

The main opponents of the Chinese women's basketball team are the Japanese women's basketball team and the South Korean women's basketball team, both of which will play as the main team of this year's Asian Cup. In the Asian Cup held from the end of June to the beginning of July, the Japanese women's basketball team lost 71:73 to the Chinese women's basketball team in the final, missing out on six consecutive championships. According to the schedule, the Chinese women's basketball team will face the Mongolian women's basketball team, the first opponent of the group stage, on September 27, followed by the Indonesian women's basketball team on September 29 and the Indian women's basketball team on October 1. On October 2nd, 3rd and 5th, the 1/4 finals, semi-finals and finals will be contested respectively.