Young bloods display skill, sweat and tears
Nation's new-look women's team shows potential and hope during the Volleyball Nations League
China's other outside hitter Wu Mengjie, despite walking off the court in tears, summed up the near-miss as a painful step forward.
"A loss like tonight stings for sure, but an experience like this is invaluable. We learned that we have to take care of the process better," said a weeping Wu, who scored 18 points in the match against Turkiye, which played in Beijing without its star spikers Melissa Vargas and Ebrar Karakurt.
Team China, led by new head coach Zhao Yong, eventually capped off the home VNL leg with two wins (over Belgium and France) and two losses (the other to Poland) to finish in seventh place after the first week of the 18-nation preliminary phase.
The next prelim stage takes place from June 16-22 in Hong Kong, where Team China will take on Japan, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Italy.
Citing the lack of international experience, Zhao calls for patience and support for his players to mature through ups and downs to gradually live up to fans' high demands for the celebrated national program.
"I think our players have stood up to the grind and made solid progress after four matches," said the 49-year-old former coach of domestic league team Liaoning, who was appointed the national squad's new boss in April.
"It's the first international meet at the senior level for a lot of our players. They do need a process to develop, in terms of handling key points under pressure and making the right adjustment mentally."
Zhao's appointment, replacing the squad's long-term mentor Cai Bin, and his call-up of 12 new players, who made their national team debut in Beijing, reflect the national governing body's resolve to revitalize the once glorious program, following a series of international flops in recent years, and bring it back into medal contention in time for the Olympic campaign at LA 2028.
Since winning its first World Cup in 1981, the Chinese women's team has collected a total of 10 world titles, including three Olympic gold medals (1984, 2004 and 2016) and two world championships (1982,1986), emerging as a source of inspiration for almost all walks of life across the country.
The home VNL event has served up a high-profile stage for some of the host's best young guns, particularly teen combo Zhang Zixuan and Wang Aoqian, to make their presence felt.
