Chen Zhonghe On Chinese Women’s Team and World Championships
06/07/2006
Beijing, China, June 4, 2006: The Coming FIVB World Volleyball Championships this November in Japan is the most important event the Chinese Women’s National Team will participate this year and what we have done and are doing are all for the Championships, said Chen Zhonghe, head coach of the team, in an interview.
The head coach is leading his squad here to compete in a four-team international tournament together with Cuba, Russia and the Netherlands.
Chen said that the tournament is the start of the international season for the Chinese team and after this event my team will take part in the Montreux Volley Master in Switzerland and the Presidential Cup in Russia. “We may decide the final lineup for the World Championships after these warm-up competitions,” he added.
The head coach noted “I will try my best to give my young players more chances to play as it is very valuable for them to play in high-level competitions, which will certainly make them gain international experience and more mature.”
Chen said he fielded a line-up consisted of three veteran and three young players in Olympic gold medallists setter Feng Kun, opposite Zhou Suhong and blocker Liu Yanan, and young players Wang Yimei, Chu Jinling and Xu Yunli.
Wang Yimei, 18 years old, has won high praise from Chen and now is one of the team’s key spiker. while Xu Yunli with a height of 1.93 meters who joined the national team for the first time is the main wing blocker of the team. Chen said Xu is only 19 years old and is very good at blocking, having great potential.
“Although we have ups and downs during the match, it pays to send every player on the court,” said Chen.
Currently there are a total of 15 players in the Chinese side out of which only 12 can make the final roster for the World Championship slated for November in Japan.
“We should prepare a lot for the future as starting line-up and substitutes need to supplement each other at the important tournaments, especially at the World Champioships. ”
The other priority of the Chinese team is to find a best and well-balanced main line-up for the World Championships, the head coach stressed. “we will try to find the perfect combination, work hardly on the fundamental skills, especially blocking and serving. To make unforced errors as few as possible is also our main job,” he added.
Chen Zhonghe has divided the preparations for the World Championship into three stages. The first stage took placed in earlier this year in closed camp training for almost three months. The second stage began with the tournament here, and then the team will participate in the Montreux Volley Masters in Switzerland, the Presidential Cup in Russia and the FIVB World Grand Prix which will take China to Macao, Hong Kong and Chengdu of China. After that, the team will return home for the final training and solve the problems exposed in these competitions.
At the World Championships in Japan, China will start their preliminary competitions in Sapporo with Pool D games against Dominacan Republic, Mexico, Russia, Germany and Azerbaijan.
