Chinese men's volleyball team on busy training schedule with humble Olympic outlook
30/7/2008 17:29
Chinese male volleyballers are in final stretch to prepare for the
upcoming Olympic Games with a busy training schedule.
Despite a record
seventh place ending at the just-ended World League tournament, China's head
coach Zhou Jian'an has not raised his expectations of the team's Olympic
journey.
"Our goal to enter the final eight has not been changed," said
Zhou.
The team, led by captain Shen Qiong, has two two-hour training sessions
a day, one in the morning and the other in the evening, which helps the team to
adapt themselves to the Olympic night competition schedule.
China, ranked
21st in the world, the lowest among the 12 competitors, is pre-approved to the
Beijing Olympics as host. The team is grouped with the Athens runner-up Italy,
the World Cup bronze medallist Bulgaria, the United States, the third-ranked
team, Japan and Venezuela.
"The training schedule seems to be very busy, but
the intensity is acceptable. I want the players to keep their levels, but I
don't want any injuries," said Zhou.
Though not qualified for the World
League final round in Brazil, Zhou is satisfied with the team's performance,
saying the 6-6 win-loss record has greatly inspired the young players'
confidence.
According to Zhou, after the world's preliminaries, China ranked
top among 16 teams on receiving. Libero Ren Qi and Shen Qiong stood top two on
receiving, Jiao Shuai was the best setter and spiker Yuan Zhi was the second
best scorer.
"Such achievements are rare for China in international
competitions," said Zhou.
The coach is now even more assured with the team's
fast-attacking style of play.
"Facing much stronger and powerful opponents
from Europe, we find little chance with head-to-head clash. But if we can be
more changeable on strategy and give full performance of fast attack, we will
find a way," said Zhou.
Twelve men's teams are divided into two groups to
compete in the Preliminary Round of the Olympic tournaments in Beijing that run
through August 10-18. The knockout stages run from August 20 to 24.
The
latest and also the only Olympic show of the men's team went back to 1984, when
the team headed for the Los Angeles in haste as the substitution of the
defaulter Soviet Unions and finished with a dismal 8th place.
Xinhua
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