China's women volleyballers are in dire need of a brilliantly victorious tour to west Asia to save some pride of the low-spirited World Cup and Olympic dual champions, while the Chinese men's volleyball team might just fight for honor in the upcoming Doha Asian Games.

The women spikers of China, who have been blamed of making few improvements after taking the historical Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004, struggled with a rough low form after failing to make the semifinals of the ongoing world championships in Japan.

Head coach Chen Zhonghe was widely criticized for leading an aging and injury-hit squad, and even heard voices of dispelling him from the post after his team succumbed to Germany in their second defeat of the tournament, which deeply harmed their hopes of reaching the play-offs.

The critics further raised their high-pitched tones when here come closer the Asiad, which to be slated from Dec. 1-15 in Doha, Qatar.

It could not be more a pudding time for Chen's team, which being highly expected to bring back the glorious days of Chinese women volleyball in the 1980s, to rebuild the team and the countrymen's confidence in preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games within less than two years.

The defending champions, having stayed top in the latest released world rankings by FIVB, have been handed an easy draw, which was made early in last September, facing the 8th-ranked South Korea, the 23rd Chinese Taipei and Vietnam on the 71st.

And Japan, second to China in Asia, need to guarantee a top-two finish in Pool B against Kazakhstan, Thailand, Tajikistan and Mongolia to make the semis.

Though the Japanese have improved a lot recently, it's by no means an easy job for them to match up with China, a long dominant force to Asian women's volleyball who became the first ever team to win ten consecutive Asian Championships last year, let alone the other eight teams taking part in the Asian Games.

For the men's team, the Asian Games final should be a realistic target.

The newly reshuffled men's team, led by the one-year-stand head coach Zhou Jian'an, have entered directly into the last-eight list of the Doha Asiad's men's volleyball event after securing a berth in the world championships.

Shouldering a first-12 finish task in the Japan worlds, the Chinese men might turn tired ahead towards Doha, but the same challenge faces the other top Asian teams who entered the worlds finals, namely Japan and South Korea, both holding higher positions than China, as well as Kazakhstan.

Last time in the Asian Games, the Chinese men's volleyballers failed to make the semifinals four years ago in Busan.