Jingbao Sports | Reporter Zhuo Ran
In 2022, the first year of the Paris Olympic cycle, China men’s and women’s volleyball teams frequently appeared in the international arena, exercised their teams against the world’s top players, made some achievements, identified their goals and directions, and at the same time found their own shortcomings and recognized the gap. Generally speaking, the upward climb of men’s and women’s volleyball in China, which is in the alternation of old and new, faces both opportunities and challenges.
The women’s volleyball team is gradually on track.
The shadow of losing the Tokyo Olympic Games still exists, Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning are absent, Yan Ni and other veterans retire … Cai Bin took over the coach of China women’s volleyball team in a difficult situation. This year, under his leadership, the tenacious China women’s volleyball team once again proved the powerful strength of the women’s volleyball spirit.
The 2022 World Women’s Volleyball League is the first show of the new China women’s volleyball team under Cai Bin. In the first competition week, China women’s volleyball team reversed the Dutch team, defeated the Turkish team and defeated the Italian team, and even scored 3 wins and 1 loss, which was remarkable. In the following two races, the performance of China women’s volleyball team was mixed. In the end, it broke into the quarterfinals of the World Women’s Volleyball League with 12 games, 8 wins and 4 losses, and achieved the set goal. Although it lost to the Italian team which won the championship in the quarter-finals, it missed the semi-finals, but in the debut of this new women’s volleyball team, this team made people see the impact and hope.
Coach Cai Bin bluntly said after the game that the 13 matches of the World Women’s Volleyball League were very valuable experiences, which helped the team find the direction of efforts. Although the team is not mature enough, Jin Ye and Wang Yun, two Mesozoic main attackers from Beijing Automobile Women’s Volleyball Team, dared to fight and fight to make up for the vacancy on the main attack line of this team as much as possible. Li Yingying, Gong Xiangyu and Yuan Xinyue, through constant tempering, have also taken on the offensive and defensive responsibilities of the team.
Before the start of the World Women’s Volleyball Championships, perhaps not many people can say with great confidence that the goal of China women’s volleyball reaching the quarterfinals can be achieved with a high probability. In the World Championships, China women’s volleyball team defeated Argentina, Colombia, Japan and the Czech Republic with four scores of 3-0 in the group stage, and it was not until it met the powerful Brazil team in the final round that it swallowed its first defeat in the World Championships. In the semi-finals, China women’s volleyball team beat Puerto Rico lightly, narrowly defeated the Netherlands and defeated the Belgian team in five games, and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals, achieving the set goals. Facing the Italian team again in the quarter-finals, the China women’s volleyball team was weaker than its opponents in all technical aspects, lost 1-3, stopped in the quarter-finals, and finally ended the journey of the World Championships with the sixth place.
From the World Women’s Volleyball League to the World Women’s Volleyball Championships, in just a few months, this China women’s volleyball team has shown its own progress, played its morale and self-confidence, and let the outside world see a brand-new mental outlook. However, in the confrontation with the world’s top teams such as Italy and Brazil, the team’s inexperience, unstable state and many mistakes are also exposed.
Cai Bin said in an interview after the World Championships that young players have grown up rapidly through the experience of the World Championships, with both regrets and gains. Facing the top teams in the world, China team should continue to tap its potential and build a system of balanced attack and defense.
In 2022, we saw the potential and hope from this China women’s volleyball team. In 2023, intensive international competitions such as the World Women’s Volleyball League, the Asian Games and the Paris Olympic qualifiers are waiting for the girls, expecting China women’s volleyball team with fine traditions to achieve new success.
Men’s volleyball team wins Asian championship again
Looking back on 2022, it is a great encouragement for China men’s volleyball team and China volleyball team that China men’s volleyball team won the Asian Cup again after 10 years, which can even be called a big event in domestic sports. However, in the eyes of many fans, if we want to rank the surprises brought by China men’s volleyball team this year, it may be more exciting that they beat the powerful Brazilian team in the World Men’s Volleyball League.
In recent years, there are not many opportunities to compete in the international arena, and the China men’s volleyball team has rarely performed brilliantly. In the 2022 World Men’s Volleyball League in Brazil, China men’s volleyball team lost all three games, and the whole team was in the haze of defeat. In the final round against Brazil, no one believed that China men’s volleyball team could win. However, in the competition, the boys of China men’s volleyball team played to the extreme in attacking and blocking, and finally overthrew Brazil, the world’s No.1 team, 3-0, and won a victory to rebuild their confidence. After that, China men’s volleyball team was influenced by many factors, failed to continue its stable performance, and finally handed over the report card of 12 games, 3 wins and 9 losses.
After a short break, China men’s volleyball team entered the Asian Cup non-stop. Beat China Taipei Team and Bahrain Team with two scores of 3-1, swept Pakistan Team, defeated Iran Team, and defeated South Korea Team in five games-China Men’s Volleyball Team reached the final and ushered in the ultimate contest with Japanese Team. With Zhang Jingyin’s excellent performance and the team’s good performance in blocking and serving, China men’s volleyball team finally won the championship with a 3-0 victory.
In the Asian Cup competition, China Men’s Volleyball Team actively adjusted and finally won many times when the score was behind, which improved the team morale and ushered in a highlight moment. However, at the World Men’s Volleyball Championships that followed, in the confrontation with the top teams in the world, China Men’s Volleyball Team did not win a game, and was at the bottom of the group, seeing the gap between itself and its opponents.
Through the tempering of this year’s World Series, the combat effectiveness and cohesion of China Men’s Volleyball Team have been further improved, and the outside world has also seen the role of senior national players such as Zhang Jingyin, Dai Qingyao, Yu Yaochen and Peng Shikun, as well as the growth of young players such as Yang Yiming. At the same time, the team also exposed shortcomings and shortcomings, and head coach Wu Sheng and the players attached great importance to this. Wu Sheng said that the gap between China men’s volleyball team and the world’s high-level teams is still very large, "not only technically, but also in physical fitness, physical fitness and understanding of volleyball."
In the coming year, China Men’s Volleyball Team also has a heavy international competition task, the most crucial of which is the Paris Olympic qualifiers. What kind of performance the boys will show is worth looking forward to.
League launched reform measures
At present, the 2022-2023 China Volleyball Super League is in full swing, with 28 teams participating in the men’s and women’s volleyball leagues.
At the beginning of this year, the National Volleyball Work Conference was held. Under the active promotion of the State Sports General Administration, the volleyball league started the reform work. This season’s Super League has ushered in new breakthroughs and changes, and launched a series of new measures, including the launch of the league slogan of "bravely surpassing, fighting first", further building the brand marketing system, improving the brand system and enhancing brand value, and the league competition system is developing in a more standardized direction.
The foreign aid policy is one of the most remarkable changes in the league. This season, there is no limit to the number, position and number of foreign aid players in the Super League, which makes the number of foreign aid imports hit a new high in recent seasons, including many top-level athletes in the world. Judging from the course of the competition, this move has really further improved the antagonism and competitive level of the competition. Many young players have also gained more opportunities to learn and exercise with the help of high-level foreign aid.
It is also undeniable that the problems of low commercialization level and poor management and operation mechanism of the Super League still exist. Volleyball, as one of the three big balls, has not reached its due position and level in domestic league matches, nor has it shown its unique value.
As the cornerstone of the national team construction, the reform and development of the league still has a long way to go, and it needs to find the right direction and make contributions for a long time.
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