You just can’t have everything.
China would’ve made history if they won against Italy last night and then beat Serbia to win the World Championship crown. If this happened to China then they’d be the ONLY team in the world to have won the 4 prestigious quadrennial volleyball tournaments:
2015 FIVB World Cup
2016 Olympics
2017 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup
2018 FIVB World Championship
The last time we saw this kind of historic string of achievements was when the Cubans dominated women’s volleyball from 1992 – 2000.
As we all know, this is not the case for China.
“The spirit of our team is not simply about winning the championship, but to give our best even when we are facing defeat. It’s about rising up against all obstacles and continuing with perseverance and passion. The long journey to success will be bumpy and full of obstacles, but the finish line will be worth the fight.” – Coach Lang Ping
After last night’s heartbreaking loss to Paola Egonu and the Italians, we’re not quite sure how they’d play tonight against The Netherlands for the bronze medal. No doubt both teams want to go home with a medal but would China still have the heart to go for it?
Zhu Ting didn’t have her best match against Italy despite being her team’s top scorer. The Italians just knew how to play against her. Zhu looked exhausted. We bet she is exhausted since she has been her team’s main weapon throughout this long tournament.
Let’s just hope the rest of her teammates step up. Middle blockers Yuan and Yan Ni did last night but Zhang Changning and Gong didn’t play their best.
We can’t be all sad for Zhu and China at all.
The future looks bright for this team from hereon now. Coach Lang Ping still has time to mold her players to reach their BEST when the Olympic qualification starts next year. If China qualifies – they should – then expect this Asian team to come in full force to defend their Olympic title. Tokyo 2020 is less than 2 years away but China still remains as one of the top teams together with Italy and Serbia as the teams we should all watch out for.
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