On the evening of the 7th, the final of the 2024 FIVB Challenger Cup came to an end. After four rounds of fierce battles, the Chinese men's volleyball team defeated the Belgian men's volleyball team, which is currently ranked 16th in the world, 3:1, and won the championship while qualifying for the 2025 World Men's Volleyball League and the 2025 Men's Volleyball World Championship.
Image source: Screenshot of the FIVB website
A total of 8 men's volleyball teams came to Linyi, Shandong Province to participate in the 2024 FIVB Challenger Cup, and the results are related to the qualification for the World Championships. The game adopts a single-elimination system, and for the Chinese men's volleyball team, which is not ranked high in the world, every game is a battle of life and death.
Facing the Mexican team in the quarterfinals, although the Chinese men's volleyball team started slowly, it quickly adjusted its state, was better at grasping key balls, and defeated the opponent 3:0 to advance to the semifinals. After the game, the main attacker Zhang Jingyin said that the team's ultimate goal is to return to the World Men's Volleyball League.
In the semifinals, facing the Egyptian team that had already qualified for the Paris Olympics, the Chinese men's volleyball team showed strong combat effectiveness, and defeated the opponent in three straight games again in a passive situation and advanced to the final. The statistics after the game showed that the Chinese team performed far better than their opponents in controlling mistakes.
Image source: Chinese men's volleyball social media
The final opponent Belgium team is even stronger, and the Chinese men's volleyball team lost 1:3 to the opponent in the Paris Olympic Qualifying Tournament last year. In this game, the Chinese men's volleyball team used the same starting lineup as the semifinals.
In the first game, the Chinese team quickly entered the state, and Wang Jingyi continued to attack in the second position to help the team establish an advantage. Since then, the Belgian men's volleyball team has increased its serve aggression and once narrowed the difference to only 1 point. In the face of the opponent's strong attack, the Chinese men's volleyball team showed defensive resilience, and after the ball was played in the back row, Zhang Jingyin and Yu Yuantai scored continuously, and the Chinese team took the lead at 25:20. With the victory in this game, the Chinese men's volleyball team locked the ticket to the 2025 World Championships in advance.
In the second game, the Chinese team showed the advantage of the net, and the deputy attacker Peng Shikun and others scored consecutive blocks and scores, helping the team quickly take the lead. The Belgian men's volleyball team continued to use substitutions to try to disrupt the rhythm of the Chinese team, but the effect was not obvious, and the Chinese men's volleyball team won 25:20.
Wang Jingyi in the game. Image source: Chinese Volleyball Association social media
In the third game, the Belgian men's volleyball team increased the speed of offensive cooperation, and the Chinese team, which held the lead, was a little conservative on the court. In the middle of the game, the Chinese team made several mistakes in serving and smashing, and the score difference was gradually opened up by the opponent. After that, Wang Jing, who was in excellent form, combined with a dozen hangings to help the Chinese team equalize the score. But in terms of grasping the key points, the Belgian team was superior, winning 25-22.
In the fourth game, the Chinese team did not give the opponent too many chances, Wang Jingyi's strong attack and Peng Shikun's blocking score allowed the Chinese team to establish an advantage. After that, Zhang Jingyin's service round made the opponent have a continuous unfavorable attack, and the Chinese men's volleyball team seized the opportunity to win the game 25:22.
Image source: Screenshot of the FIVB website
The statistics after the game show that the Chinese team performed well in smashing the ball and blocking the net. In the blocking link, the Chinese team blocked the opponent's main attack many times in the game, leading the opponent 16:8. In this game, the Chinese men's volleyball team scored 4 double-doubles, with Wang Jingyi contributing a game-high 23 points, Zhang Jingyin scoring 20 points, and Yu Yuantai and Peng Shikun scoring 11 points each.
In this competition, the performance of the Chinese men's volleyball team was eye-catching. In the face of the brutal single-elimination system, the team showed the words "not afraid of strong enemies" to the fullest. In April this year, Belgian coach Vital Henin became the head coach of the Chinese men's volleyball team. At that time, he frankly said that he wanted to help the Chinese team play team volleyball, "I firmly believe that the Chinese team can play better, they are all great athletes." ”
Image source: Screenshot of the FIVB website
Now, the team has tentatively fulfilled its promise more than two months ago and returned to the World Men's Volleyball League. This means that the team will have more opportunities to play against the world's best teams in the future and improve themselves.
According to media statistics, this is the first time that the Chinese men's volleyball team has won the championship of the FIVB competition. In the three games, the Chinese team scored 4.65, 5.92 and 5.01 points respectively, and the current world ranking has risen to 26th.
Congratulations to the Chinese men's volleyball team!
Source: China-Singapore Sports Liu Xingchen