A few days ago, Li Shan, former Olympic champion of the Chinese women's volleyball team and deputy director of the Tianjin Municipal Sports Bureau, sparked heated discussions during the interview. Regarding the invitation of foreign clubs to Tianjin women's volleyball players, Li Shan revealed that the Tianjin team has actually received invitations from clubs in Turkey, Italy, and Russia, but the Chinese women's volleyball team is facing preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics, including Li Yingying, Yuan Xinyue, Wang Yuanyuan and other Tianjin women's volleyball team's main task is the Olympic Games. In this regard, netizens launched a heated discussion!
Some people pointed out that it can be seen from Li Shan's words that the Tianjin women's volleyball team hopes that players can be trained in foreign leagues, but everything is premised on the national team's Olympic preparations. Some netizens commented, "If she doesn't let people go after the Paris Olympics, then what she says will be empty words!" "The consequence of being behind closed doors and resting on her laurels is that the Olympic qualifiers will be beaten by European teams!" At present, the outside world is still discussing whether the main players of the Tianjin women's volleyball team should play abroad.
Why don't national players "go out"? The truth emerges
As we all know, Tianjin women's volleyball team is the "giant" of the domestic volleyball Super League, and has won the championship podium many times. Li Shan was also one of the main players of the Tianjin women's volleyball team, and in the 2004 Athens Olympics, Li Shan, who was substituted, defeated the Russian team in the women's volleyball final together with Feng Kun, Zhou Suhong, Yang Hao, Zhang Na, etc., and won the championship. After retiring, Li Shan joined the Tianjin Sports Bureau and currently serves as the deputy director of the Tianjin Sports Bureau. At the same time, she also actively contributed to the development of the Tianjin women's volleyball team and promoted the development of the domestic volleyball league.
In the 2023 Women's Volleyball Club World Cup, Tianjin Women's Volleyball Team won the third place. Recently, Li Shan once again talked about the topic of Tianjin women's volleyball players staying abroad in an interview with the media. She said that the main players in the team have received invitations from clubs such as the Turkish Super League, Serie A, and the Russian Premier League, which represent the level of the world's top volleyball leagues, which also makes the Tianjin women's volleyball team more determined to move forward. However, she said that the Chinese women's volleyball team needs to prepare for the Paris Olympics, and the personal wishes of the main players of the Tianjin women's volleyball team are more for the national team to improve.
Talking about the team's future plans, Li Shan said that the Tianjin team can do more basic work and will also maintain contact with foreign clubs. This season, the Tianjin women's volleyball team has many national players. In addition to Yao Di, Li Yingying, and Wang Yuanyuan, Yuan Xinyue also plays for the team. Among the current Chinese women's volleyball team, Zhu Ting and Ding Xia have started to live abroad, and both players have performed well in foreign clubs and helped their respective teams win many championships. Li Yingying, Yuan Xinyue and other main players have not yet gone abroad to play, what do you think is the biggest reason?
(Shopkeeper Luo)