China's volleyball official admitted on Wednesday that the
sport's governing body made a mistake by thinking that Chinese
women's volleyballers should able to play until the age of 28.
Xu Li, director of the Volleyball Administrative Center of the
State General Administration of Sports, said that the governing
officials and the coaching staff had all believed the Athens
winning team could compete until the 2008 Beijing Games.
"But it proved a big mistake after a disappointing 2006,
resulting in too many injuries and hence the unsatisfactory
performance," Xu said. "It put a dent on the team's defending
campaign towards the Beijing Olympics."
"Players from America or Europe could still stay in form until
28 or so, but the Chinese women's volleyballers might only hit the
top gear between the age of 24 and 26 due to our training mode and
the Asian physique," he added, noting that it is an idea accepted
now by all specialists in the field.
The Chinese women's team retained its main line-up after the
Athens Olympic victory, even though starters Feng Kun, Zhou Suhong,
Yang Hao, Liu Yanan and Zhang Na would all be older than 26 by the
Beijing games.
"We had planned to build up a stronger team in 2006, but now it
is time to start from zero, so the team is facing an uphill task
before 2008," Xu told Xinhua openly. "We need a younger squad for
the Olympics."
The former honorary world champion has lost a lot of ground in
recent competition, finishing both in a remote fifth place in the
world championships and the final standings of the world Grand Prix
in 2006.
Their Olympic defending road has become increasingly rocky, most
notably after they lost to powerhouses Russia, Italy, and Brazil
five times of all eight meetings apiece last year. China even lost
to Germany and the Netherlands for the first time in history.
"The team has another problem strategically in 2006, putting too
much stress on strength which is the advantage of the European and
American teams and losing speed and agility we have had before," Xu
added.
China has just named a new training list on Wednesday, with two
under-20 new faces included to take the places of ailing Feng Kun
and Song Nina, who was substitute to Feng at Athens in 2004.
Also on the disabled list are Olympic winner Zhang Ping and
former Chinese star Zhao Ruirui,, who is currently receiving
treatment for her leg injuries with Feng in the United States.
The new team will leave for south China's Zhangzhou, Guangzhou,
and Binzhou for three-month long training sessions before competing
in the Four Nations Tournament slated for late May at Ningbo,
Zhejiang province.
Following is the name list of Chinese women's volleyball team
for their upcoming training sessions:
Wei Qiuyue (18 years old), Han Xu (19), Zhou Suhong (27), Li
Juan (24), Wang Yimei (19), Yang Hao (26), Zhang Yuehong (32), Sun
Xiaoqing (22), Xu Yunli (19), Xue Ming (20), Liu Yanan (26), Ma
Yunwen (20), Zhang Na (26), Zhang Xian (22)
(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2007)