In the fifth game in seven days, the Tianjin Bohai Bank women's volleyball team faced huge physical pressure from the Club World Cup to the volleyball super competition.
In the game with the Sichuan team, in addition to the injured players, only the team's first firepower Li Yingying got the opportunity to rest, and the captain Yao Di still started the game, and the coaching staff also replaced her at the end of the first game after seeing that the game would not be too much of a problem.
From this point, it may be seen that the Tianjin women's volleyball team relies on this veteran, and behind this reliance is Yao Di's desire to become a better version of himself from beginning to end.
From 2012 to 2019, and now to 2023, this trip to Hangzhou has been the third Club World Cup trip in the career of Yao Di, the captain of the women's volleyball team of Tianjin Bohai Bank.
In the three competitions, with the improvement of age, experience and strength, Yao Di's role is changing, and his self-requirements are getting higher and higher.
Faced with the superior Isaqibashi and Wakifu Bank suffered successive defeats, although the result was not unexpected, Yao Di still blamed himself.
Yao Di
Tianjin Bohai Bank women's volleyball team leader
I don't think I participated in the first Club World Cup myself, I just went with the team to experience it. And then from 2019 to this year, I can be honest with the frustration in the process because I think there is a big gap between us and the big teams in the world, including when we played Issa or Wakifer in the last game, I think we didn't do a good enough job of blocking and I think that's the gap between us and the big teams.
First Vargas was injured, and then Yang Yi was injured unexpectedly, and the personnel of the Tianjin team in the receiving position of this Club World Cup kept changing like a marquee, and the two young players Chen Boya and Liu Meijun also played successively.
As the commander on the field, Yao Di faced one problem after another.
On average, in less than 24 hours of four games, she had to readjust to the Xi style of play and characteristics of a receiver.
Yao Di
Tianjin Bohai Bank women's volleyball team leader
I think that although the receiving position has been changing, the overall framework of our attack has not changed, because our main attack is now two secondary attacks and two main attacks. The conversion of our response is that Yang Yi is the back row, Liu Meijun comes up to play his own level, I think the young players are doing a good job, this time Liu Meijun and Wang Yizhu's play is worthy of recognition.
As the eldest sister of the team and the core of the offensive and defensive transition, Yao Di knows that he is responsible for helping young players.
Seeing the young teammates around him continue to give surprises on the stage of the Club World Cup, Yao Di was happy for them, but also reminded these young players, and also reminded himself:
We must take a long-term view, recognize the gaps, and never stop on the road ahead.
Yao Di
Tianjin Bohai Bank women's volleyball team leader
I hope our players don't just be satisfied with our league results, I think now we have also seen what kind of state the world's high-level teams are, I hope the young players, including Wang Yizhu, she played well this time, I hope she is not just satisfied with this competition, I think there is still room for improvement. Including the players of our national team, as well as veteran players like me, after we have seen it, we know better what we want to improve.
In the current Tianjin women's volleyball team, Yao Di is the only player with overseas experience.
The short experience of Serie A allowed her to see the outside world and the true strength of Europe's high-level professional leagues.
She is still eager to go further, to have the opportunity to chase her unfinished dreams, and to be able to bloom at the end of her career.
Yao Di
Tianjin Bohai Bank women's volleyball team leader
Before coming to this tournament, everyone said that we were learning Xi, but I knew very well that I had lost the platform of the national team now, and then I knew how important this competition was to me and I really wanted to play at my level. In the second and third games, when I was under pressure to block the net, I was in the transition, and the whole team's attack was not particularly well organized, but I still didn't give up. After the semi-finals, I thought a lot and I'm going to watch the video, I've been trying to improve myself and I think that's my most valuable asset.