In the 1/4 finals of the women's volleyball team at the Paris Olympics, the Chinese women's volleyball team clashed fiercely with the world's fourth-ranked Turkey team. The two sides went back and forth, equally, and finally after five rounds of white-hot battles, the Chinese team lost with a score of 2-3 and missed the semi-finals.
Before the game, the quality of these two teams was really inseparable. In the latest world rankings, the Chinese team is only one place ahead of the Turkey team; In the last 5 meetings between the two teams, the Chinese team has 2 wins and 3 losses, which is slightly at a disadvantage. Therefore, this anxious duel that lasted for more than 5 hours was undoubtedly reasonable.
But what is quite surprising is that Zhu Ting, the number one main player of the Chinese team, has never been able to enjoy this campaign. The top scorer, known as the "Jumsh", rarely performed in the key points of the whole game, but it was the opponent Vargas, a super scorer, who became the biggest contributor to the Chinese team.
In the first two rounds, although the Chinese women's volleyball team showed a fierce offensive momentum with Zhu Ting and Li Yingying, Zhu Ting showed signs of a downturn in the third game, and the team's defensive counterattack gradually showed a fault.
At the other end, Turkey made an early bet on Vargas, who were destined to win the game. The Ephes Sporting star has been shooting wildly since the second game, showing a jaw-dropping power.
In the second game alone, on the offensive end, she scored a terrifying 17 points, which dwarfed Zhu Ting's score in comparison. Not to mention that in the third game that followed, Vargas made persistent efforts to single-handedly pack more than 25 points of offensive firepower, making the entire Chinese team passive.
"Vargas was in such a horrible state today that she couldn't defend against it at all, and there was Karakurt on the court to cooperate with her attack." The on-site commentator bluntly said, "This is the strength of a world-class scorer, and the power of one person can make the whole team passive." "
When the authorities were stalemate in the decisive game, Vargas's sense of oppression for the Chinese women's volleyball team reached a critical state. Although the Chinese team was in full swing in the previous two games, they also looked tired of dealing with Vargas's powerful heavy artillery attacks.
In this game, Vargas scored 45 points in a single game, and more than two-thirds of the offensive points in the whole game came from her. However, Zhu Ting only scored 11 points and 12 points in two consecutive rounds, and she has been in the doldrums for a long time and seems to have not fully entered the state.
"Vargas's inside striking power was so strong that if you couldn't contain her, it would be really difficult to win the match." After the game, the coach of the Chinese team, Cai Bin, said bluntly, "However, the performance of Zhu Ting and others is indeed relatively average, which is where we need to reflect and adjust." "
In addition to the problem of the core and main play, another criticism is the abnormal luck of the Chinese women's volleyball team when they play on the spot. In such an important and decisive match, they were once again held back by their on-field performance when they were on the verge of goal.
In the course of the game, many Chinese players were slightly inferior in their ability to respond to the situation and deal with it, so that they missed many due opportunities at critical moments. Especially in the referee's penalty decision, there was a major controversial judgment that was considered to affect the final score result.
Throughout the fifth game, the Chinese women's volleyball team was in a passive situation. After the two sides drew 10 draws, the Chinese team had a successful save action, but the referee made an obvious misjudgment. Although the Chinese side immediately put forward a challenge and eventually succeeded in the challenge, the crucial point was never pocketed.
"This kind of verdict inevitably hurts the fairness of the game too much." The on-site commentators pointed to the mistakes of the referee team, believing that it directly affected the key to whether the Chinese women's volleyball team could at least defend the "right to compete for the championship", which was a pity.
After the game, many commentators believed that this was a sad and regrettable exit, but it was also a warning to the current predicament faced by the Chinese women's volleyball team. Whether it is the on-the-spot performance of key players or the imminent response in key links, there are many problems and deficiencies.
This also reflects the recent troubles faced by the Chinese women's volleyball team: even if the strength of the lineup is dazzling, it often makes repeated omissions in the face of major tests, and it is always difficult to jump out of the curse of "peak".
A senior analyst bluntly said: "The Chinese women's volleyball team reflected in the Olympic Games over the years often has the problem of the peak period. Whether it was London in 2012, Rio in 2016, or even Tokyo in the previous year, in the end, there was a life-and-death problem at the end of the day, and the success fell short. "
"Although Turkey is stronger this time, the Chinese team obviously still does not absorb the lessons of the past well. The tactical level is not good, the main force is not stable, and there are mistakes in the impromptu response and basic skills, which always gives people the feeling that they are just a little bit of luck. "
Indeed, looking at the achievements of the Chinese women's volleyball team in recent years, there are such embarrassments and troubles to varying degrees. Before the game, he was favored to win the championship, but in the end, he repeatedly fell short. This situation certainly shows that the team's strength is close to the world's peak, but if you want to reach the peak, the ability to break through on the spot with a kick obviously needs to be improved.
For the future Olympic cycle, how to resolve this problem in key events will be the biggest problem that the Chinese women's volleyball team needs to break through.