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China's head coach Chen Zhonghe has kept a low key about his team's prospect in the FIVB World Grand Prix women's volleyball tournament at Beilun, Ningbo in east China.

Both China and Cuba are expected to fight it out for the title as the tournament swings into action Friday. China will begin their campaign Friday night by taking on Azerbaijan, while Cuba meet Poland.

Chen said that the reigning Olympic champions are not the team to beat.

"We had ups and downs during the last two legs," said Chen, referring to China's 25-22, 25-19, 25-17 defeat by Brazil last week in Macao.

"We are definitely not the best team in the world. There is room for improvement."

Chen, however, took some positives out of the defeat.

"It enabled us to find our problems and make improvements. It helped ease our players' pressure as well," he said.

China have retained the bulk of their Olympic gold medal-winning side, though they have included five new faces in the team.

As China are already assured of a berth in the World Grand Finals, Chen is looking beyond the Ningbo tournament.

"We'll take advantage of the World Grand Prix to improve our coordination and team-work. The competition is an important part of our preparations for the 2006 World Championships to be held in Japan," he said.

Poland, the only winless side among the 12 World Grand Prix participants after two legs, are eager to shake off their underdog tag in Beilun.

"We have started the Grand Prix with all losses, so we hope this could change in Beilun," said Poland's assistant coach Ireneusz Klos.

Klos added that the 2005 European Champions are also using the Grand Prix to seek a reliable line-up for the World Championship.

Although the chances of qualifying for the Grand Prix finals are very slim, Azerbaijan refuse to give way, too.

"We feel a lot of pressure, but we will try to deliver our best play," said Azerbaijan coach Faig Garyev.

Despite having lost five matches during the last two legs, Azerbaijan proved to be a force to be reckoned with by pushing five matches to five sets.

The Beilun leg is part of a qualifying campaign featuring 12 of the world's top teams. The top five teams from the qualifying rounds join hosts Italy in the World Grand Prix finals, which run from Sept. 6-10 in Reggio Calabria, Italy.

(CRI September 1, 2006)