China next FIVB Women World Grand Prix champion?
The Chinese National Women’s volleyball team hold the second spot so far in the FIVB World Grand Prix that reached the close of its second preliminary round last weekend with matches being held in various cities of the world. Despite the fact that China is considered one of the superior teams in the world of volleyball, they have not been able to reach the top for several years.
The last time that the Chinese team held the champions title of the World Grand Prix was way back in 2003, when the match was staged in the Italian city of Andria. China was able to land the third spot in the tournament in 2005 in Japan while in 2007; the Chinese team secured the silver medal in home ground.
Unfortunately for the Chinese squad, there has been a gap since 2007 in getting any medal in the World Grand Prix. Year 2010 saw the Chinese take away the fourth position in the tournament.
Some blame the inconsistency in the performance of the Chinese team on the fact that they have not been able to have one coach over a period of years. From 2001 to 2008, China was under the guidance of the coaching services of Chen Zhonghe. However, that changed in 2009 when the coaching position was given to Cai Bin. After an unsuccessful year that saw the first ever Chinese loss in the World Grand Champions Cup, when Wang Baoquan became the new coach in 2010. Under the guidance of Baoquan, China was able to life themselves up and secure the fourth spot in the World Grand Prix. Unfortunately for the Chinese squad, Baoquan could not continue as coach on grounds of health issues and the coaching position was given to Yu Juemin, the current Chinese coach.
The tides seem to be turning for the Chinese team this year as they are nearly head to head with the United States squad that enjoy the first position in the World Grand Prix so far. Although the two teams have the same number of 18 points, the US is at the top of the game because of a slight lead in point ratio. The US has been able to register a ratio of 1.327 while the Chinese rest at 1.292.
The last match that the Chinese played in the current World Grand Prix tournament was with Poland on June 17, 2012. China was able to make a clean sweep on the Polish squad that holds the ninth position in the tournament. The score board showed the following final set scores: 25-19, 25-17 and 29-27.
The Chinese coach, Yu Juemin, made the following comments at the end of the match, “We prepared for this match well...Today our serving and attacking are excellent. Spikers and wing Spikers have done a good job.”
On the other hand, the Polish coach Alojzy Swiderek shared his views on the outcome of the match in the following manner, “At first congratulations to China that they got the first place in this match. We are disappointed that we did a bad job. Today we had worse attack and defence than China.”
With the added advantage of already being in the final round of the tournament as the home team, it is yet to be seen whether China can put an end to its bad luck by bagging the title match.
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