On April 28, the new Chinese men's volleyball team held an open class. The newly appointed head coach of the Chinese men's volleyball team, the famous Belgian coach Haining, said that he saw the love of Chinese men's volleyball players for volleyball and believed that the Chinese men's volleyball team could reach the same height as the women's volleyball team. Haining said his goal is to help the Chinese men's volleyball team qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics.
The new coach brings happiness to the new men's volleyball team
The new Chinese men's volleyball team gathered in Beijing on April 25 and met with the new head coach, Vital Henin from Belgium. In the first public training session on the 28th, Haining said that he had paid attention to the performance of the Chinese men's volleyball team as early as 5 years ago, "In June 2019, I watched the Chinese men's volleyball team in Ningbo, and I felt that China would be able to establish an excellent national team, and since then I have hoped that I can become the head coach of the Chinese men's volleyball national team." ”
Coach Haining arranged a number of training sessions for the team during the two-hour training session in the morning. Haining started with the six-person cooperation with the nature of the game, and then carried out the full-field drill and full-field training, so that the training always maintained a joyful atmosphere. Although the training time of the boys is tight, the training atmosphere is very enthusiastic. Haining traveled through each training section and encouraged and guided the players at any time.
Haining watched the video to "hand-pick" the newcomer
In the new national team training list, there are many "newcomers" who have been selected for the national team for the first time, they are Zou Xuyuan, the main attack of the Guangdong men's volleyball team, Hu Zhenzhuo, a student of Beijing BAIC and Tsinghua University, Wang Haotian, the deputy attacker of Baoding, Hebei, Liu Ze, the second setter of Beijing BAIC, and Li Yang, the second setter of Shandong. It is reported that these newcomers are the candidates determined by Haining by watching recent league videos.
In the new Chinese men's volleyball training team, 7 people are from the Beijing BAIC men's volleyball team. Li Mu, head coach of Beijing BAIC men's volleyball team, led the team to the final stage of the league during this league, and finally lost to Shanghai Guangming men's volleyball team and won the runner-up. The team's performance during the league is recognized. Li Mu entered the coaching staff as an assistant coach, veteran players Jiang Chuan, Wang Dongchen and Zhang Binglong were selected again, and Liu Libin, Deng Xinpeng, Liu Ze and Hu Zhenzhuo were all on the national team training list for the first time.
Haining (right) and Li Mu (left) walk to the training hall
It is reported that after Haining decided to sign a contract with the Chinese Volleyball Association, he specially asked the association to ask for the recent video of the Chinese men's volleyball players' games. In the end, a group of newcomers were selected into the training team. It is worth noting that Haining decided to recruit Beijing BAIC player Liu Libin into the team by watching his previous league video. Unfortunately, Liu Libin has just completed wrist surgery. Haining still hopes that Liu Libin can return to the training team after recovery.
The new coach has requirements and expectations for the Chinese men's volleyball team
In the open class, Haining said that he has observed the Chinese men's volleyball team for five years since 2019. Haining said that he firmly believes that the Chinese team can reach the height of the Chinese women's volleyball team. For that he will make demands on the players.
After Haining confirmed the signing of the Chinese Volleyball Association, he was interviewed by Polish media. Haining revealed that when he took the Polish men's volleyball team to participate in the National League in Ningbo in 2019, he became interested in the Chinese men's volleyball team. "I think that such a country that attaches great importance to sports, has a good infrastructure, has a large volleyball population, and must have great potential, and one day I must find out why the Chinese men's volleyball team is not among the top in the world. ”
Haining revealed that he had contacted the Chinese team in 2021 and hoped to coach the national team, but at that time the Chinese Volleyball Association did not decide to hire foreign coaches, "The Chinese men's volleyball team did not perform well last year, and the world ranking has fallen to 31st, so I am glad that I seized this opportunity." ”
It is not easy to compete with the Chinese women's volleyball team
Haining is the second foreign coach to coach the Chinese men's volleyball team. Taking this step is a big challenge for both the Chinese Volleyball Association and Haining. Henin knew she had a huge challenge ahead of her. However, he still said that his job is not only to coach the national team, but also to help young Chinese players and coaches, bring experience and knowledge to all aspects of Chinese men's volleyball, and try their best to bring them to the heights reached by the Chinese women's volleyball team. "The Chinese women's volleyball team is one of the best teams in the world, and the Chinese men's volleyball team can do the same. Haining said.
According to Polish media, one of the goals of the agreement signed between Haining and the Chinese Volleyball Association is to obtain the right to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics. According to the requirements of the Los Angeles Olympics, the Chinese men's volleyball team needs to win the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship, or get the top three results in the 2027 Men's Volleyball World Championships, and then they can go straight to the Los Angeles Olympics.
Whether it is comparable to the Chinese women's volleyball team or going straight to the Los Angeles Olympics, it is not a "small goal" for the current Chinese men's volleyball team and Haining, and Haining also knows it. Due to the poor performance of the national team led by coach Wu Sheng in the World Men's Volleyball League and Men's Volleyball World Championship last year, the Chinese men's volleyball team has now lost the qualification to participate in these two heavyweight events. The Chinese men's volleyball team needs to win the World Men's Volleyball Challenger Cup in June this year to return to the World Men's Volleyball League. To qualify for the 2025 World Championships, the Chinese men's volleyball team must move up its world ranking from the current 31st to within the top 29 by the end of the season.
"Coaching the Chinese men's volleyball team will be a big challenge for me, I will find out why the men's volleyball team of this country with a population of 1.5 billion and good training facilities is not a world powerhouse, and then try to change it. "The first step is to build a team that has improved in three years, which is not easy. At present, the Chinese men's volleyball team cannot participate in the national league, and has not yet qualified for next year's World Championships, and we still have a long way to go. ”
Text/Beiqing Sports Chu Peng