Courageous China goes down swinging

Lang Ping's much-loved squad makes nation proud with bronze at worlds

No gold medal, but Team China's gutsy, never-say-die campaign at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Japan left the whole country basking in a warm afterglow.

After a nail-biting five-set semifinal loss to Italy on Friday, Lang Ping's plucky spikers rebounded to emphatically bag bronze with a 3-0 thrashing of the Netherlands on Saturday.