The Prophet | The top priority of the Chinese women's volleyball team in the World League locks the ticket to Paris, and Zhu Ting returns to add highlights

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2024-05-14 06:33Posted in Beijing Sports Creators

The first week of the 2024 World Women's Volleyball League starts today, and the Chinese women's volleyball team will play South Korea in its season debut at 4:30 a.m. Beijing time on May 15. Like the previous two World Leagues, the Chinese women's volleyball team is still led by Cai Bin and Yuan Xinyue as the captain, but this time not only has the composition of the team changed, but the lack of qualification for the Paris Olympics has made the task of the game more onerous. While scouting the team and grinding the lineup, it is also necessary to make every effort to improve the winning rate in order to maintain a high world ranking and enter the Paris Olympics. Let's take a look at the five highlights of the Chinese women's volleyball team in this year's World League.

Aspect 1: Can the Chinese women's volleyball team lock in the qualification for the Paris Olympics?

This year is the third time that Cai Bin has led the Chinese women's volleyball team to the World League after serving as head coach. This time, because the results of the sub-station competition involve the ownership of tickets for the Paris Olympics, the pressure on the Chinese team is even greater. The remaining seats for the Paris Olympics will be distributed according to the world rankings, and every win or defeat in the World League is related to the world ranking points, so the Chinese women's volleyball team must strive to win in the branch matches.

Different from the previous World League sub-tournaments with the goal of qualifying for the finals, this time the Chinese team has higher requirements for the winning rate in the sub-tournaments. So far, 8 of the 12 quota places for the women's volleyball team have been confirmed for the Paris Olympics (note: Kenya, the world's highest-ranked African team, has actually qualified), and there are still 4 Olympic tickets to be allocated. No women's volleyball team in Asia has yet qualified for the Paris Olympics. According to the quota allocation method for the Paris Olympics, after the World League sub-tournament, the world's highest ranked Asian team will directly qualify for the Paris Olympics, and then select three high-ranking teams from the remaining teams that have not qualified.

The competition between Asian teams in the world rankings is mainly between China and Japan. The Chinese women's volleyball team ranked 6th with 329.65 points, and the Japanese team ranked 9th behind with 24.56 points. For the Chinese team, the safest way to qualify is to maintain the ranking advantage against Japan after 12 matches in the World League. Objectively speaking, among the teams that have not yet qualified for the Paris Olympics, the qualifying situation of the Chinese women's volleyball team is relatively good, and the results of the sub-station matches are not too outrageous, which can lock in the Olympic tickets.

Aspect 2: What changes will the return of Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning bring?

The two aces of the Chinese women's volleyball team, Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning, have not represented the national team after the Tokyo Olympics. In the Olympic year, both returned after their injuries were alleviated. The competitive state of Zhu and Zhang and how they will change the team after their return has attracted much attention. Zhang Changning trained with the team this year and traveled to Rio de Janeiro in the first week of the competition, and Zhu Ting is expected to join the team in Macau, China in the second week.

Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning's performance in their respective peaks is obvious to all. The return of the two in the Olympic year has indeed improved the thickness of the Chinese women's volleyball team's side attack lineup, and whether coach Cai Bin can make good use of them is also of concern to everyone. Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning's situation is different. Although Zhu Ting did not play for the national team, she has not stayed away from the high-level league in Serie A for two consecutive seasons, and what she needs is a moderate rest and strengthening the run-in with her teammates. Zhang Changning basically stayed away from the field after bidding farewell to the national team, and only made a brief return at the end of last season's Super League, and the recovery of his competitive form really needs to be tested in actual combat.

What changes will Zhu Zhang's return bring to the Chinese women's volleyball team? Can Zhu Ting join forces with Li Yingying to kill the Quartet on the main offensive line as everyone expects? How much can Zhang Changning's competitive level recover? Will she be another option for the national team in the receiving position?

Aspect 3: How to configure the side attack reinforcement lineup to be the most deterrent?

After the Tokyo Olympics, Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning were absent for a long time due to injury, Li Yingying and Wang Yunrui joined forces to pick up the burden of the main attack, and Gong Xiangyu took the lead in the receiving position. After Zhu Zhang's return, the thickness of the Chinese team's offensive lineup has improved, but how to configure it to maximize its power is a test of the coaching staff's integration ability.

In the past two years, Li Yingying has carried the flag on the main offensive line, but it is difficult to find players of the same level in the opposite corner, and it is difficult to fight against strong opponents. With the return of Zhu Ting, who has both offense and defense, it is highly anticipated what kind of effect she and Li Yingying will receive when they partner together. Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning's entry into the competition will also make Wang Yunrui and Wu Mengjie more urgent. Can Wang Yunrui stand firm with a relatively stable pass and excellent serve? Can Wu Mengjie continue to improve after last year's Olympic Championships?

The difficulty in finding a suitable replacement is a problem that the Chinese women's volleyball team has not been able to solve in the Paris cycle. Zhang Changning and Wang Yizhu, who returned to the national team, both have a certain breakthrough ability on the right wing and have a good end block, can the two make the team have more options in the receiving position? In view of the fact that the main force is slightly inferior to Gong Xiangyu's ability to make a final decision, it is also a good choice to configure a side attack that can switch freely between the 2nd and 4th positions.

Aspect 4: The stability of the setter is in doubt, Ding Xia and Xu Xiaoting, who will stay in the team?

As the setter who is most in line with the tactical guiding ideology of coach Cai Bin in China, it is reasonable for Diao Linyu to be entrusted with a heavy responsibility. But given that her technical stability has been criticized, it is particularly important to equip Diao Linyu with a suitable replacement. Ding Xia did not register for the World League last year, and this year she will face the impact from rookie Xu Xiaoting.

Diao Linyu has been playing mainly in the Paris cycle, and with the Olympics imminent, it is difficult to shake his main position. In this World League, whether the cooperation between Diao Linyu, Li Yingying and Yuan Xinyue can continue to improve is still the focus of attention. In addition, after Zhu Ting returns, whether Diao Linyu can match her remains to be tested.

The dispute between Ding Xia and Xu Xiaoting's substitute setter intensified. Although Ding Xia has a lot of experience, she has suffered a serious injury and has few opportunities to play during her stay in Poland, and it is still difficult to determine how she will be in shape. Xu Xiaoting is young and energetic, but to gain the full trust of her coach and teammates, she still needs to speak by performance.

Aspect 5: Is it difficult to push new people in the Olympic year, can Cai Bin take the initiative to change?

There are not many opportunities to promote new players in the Olympic year, and the Chinese team has not yet obtained the Olympic ticket, and they dare not easily let go of the newcomers in the World League. Although Cai Bin's achievements in commanding the Chinese women's volleyball team are basically consistent with strength, his too rigid way of employing people has been repeatedly criticized.

In the past two seasons, the main lineup of the Chinese women's volleyball team has been very stable. Aside from the conventional "two-for-three" tactical execution and relatively fixed service change routines, few substitutes can be reused. With the return of Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning, and the emergence of Wu Mengjie and Wang Yizhu, the Chinese team is no longer overstretched in the attacking position, and has every opportunity to choose different combinations according to the opponent. With more people available in the team, will coach Cai Bin's on-the-spot command be more flexible?

Coach Cai Bin has been emphasizing the team's team spirit and tenacious struggle since taking office, and the Chinese women's volleyball team has also shown a good spirit in various competitions. The ups and downs of the Chinese team's performance were not because the players did not work hard enough, but because there was a gap in strength. Now, with the return of the veteran players, the team's technical support has been strengthened accordingly. I hope that through the experience of the World League, the Chinese women's volleyball team will not only enter Paris smoothly, but also make the team go further in the overall cooperation and details!

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