China's women's volleyball team will open its Olympic gold-medal defense against Venezuela with strong momentum after finishing second at the Swiss Volleyball Masters and with the return of two stars Feng Kun and Zhao Ruirui. Their match will be held on on Aug 11.

The schedule, which was unveiled yesterday in Beijing, has China's next group match being played two days later against Poland. China will go on to face Cuba, the US and Japan, respectively.

The favorable draw will allow China to avoid powerhouses like Brazil, Italy and Russia in the group stage. China will play two relatively easy tune-up matches before meeting the group's stiffest competition in Cuba and the US.

The draw for the Olympic women's volleyball event is hosted by Sun Jianhui in Beijing yesterday.

"It's a good schedule as we do not have to open the Olympic campaign against a very strong opponent when maybe we are not physically and mental at our best," said head coach Chen Zhonghe.

The Olympic host will play in Pool A. Pool B includes World Cup silver medalist Brazil, World Cup winner Italy, Athens Olympic silver medalist Russia, African champion Algeria, as well as Serbia and Kazakhstan.

But coach Chen knows there is no easy path to defending the title.

Good or bad

"I am not concerned about whether it is a good or a bad draw - I just hope we get through the group matches," Chen said. "Group competition is just the start. The real test comes in the knockout stage."