Can we regain the top spot in Asia in 8 years?, The last time the Chinese women's volleyball team won the Asian Championships was in 2015

On August 30th, Beijing time, the 2023 Women's Volleyball Asian Championships kicked off in Khorat, Thailand. The Chinese women's volleyball team won their first group stage match 3-0 against the Hong Kong team, achieving a good start. The last time the Chinese women's volleyball team won the Asian Championships was in 2015, when 21-year-old Zhu Ting alone won two trophies, Best Offender and Most Valuable Player.

The Chinese women's volleyball team will compete with the second team as the champion team of the Chengdu Universiade, with Zhao Yong as the head coach. The 14 athletes are respectively the main attacker Zhong Hui, Wu Mengjie, Duan Fang, and Wang Yizhu, the secondary attackers Yang Hanyu, Wang Wenhan, Cao Tingting, and Liu Yu, the successors Miao Yiwen and Zhou Yetong, the second setters Xu Xiaoting and Yu Jiarui, and the free agents Xu Jianan and Wu Xinyu, with Xu Xiaoting serving as the captain.

The Chinese women's volleyball team, along with Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, are in Group D, and there is no doubt that they will advance from the group stage. The host countries Thailand, Japan, and South Korea are still the main competitors of the Chinese team.

Wu Mengjie

The Chinese women's volleyball team has absolute dominance in the Asian Championships, having won ten consecutive championships, winning a total of 13 championships in history, and reaching the finals of the Asian Championships 15 times in a row. The Chinese team, Japanese team, and South Korean team have always been the main forces of the Asian women's volleyball team. Later, with the rise of the Thai team, the competition in the Asian Championships became more intense.

The recent two Asian Championships have almost staged a replica. In 2017, the Japanese women's volleyball team overturned the Thai women's volleyball team in the final and regained the Asian championship after a 10-year hiatus. The Chinese women's volleyball team sent young players from local teams who did not have the National Games competition task to participate, but lost to the South Korean team and won fourth place. In 2019, the final was held between the Japanese women's volleyball team and the Thai women's volleyball team. At that time, the Japanese women's volleyball team only had three first team members, and the rest of the players were young girls who had just finished the U20 World Youth Championship. With excellent defense, they won the full force Thai women's volleyball team, which can be considered a miracle. The Chinese women's volleyball team was defeated in the third place match against the South Korean women's volleyball team, achieving fourth place.

Duan Fang

Although the Asian Championship is an intercontinental competition, it is a mirror that can verify the quality of each team. After winning third place at the 2001 Asian Championships, the Thai women's volleyball team became a new force in the Asian volleyball scene. Since 2009, with the maturity of players such as Villawan and Plemkit, the Thai women's volleyball team has achieved excellent results in a series of Asian competitions, breaking the tripartite balance between China, Japan, and South Korea. Except for the Asian Games where the Chinese women's volleyball team failed to win, the Thai women's volleyball team has caused embarrassment to the Chinese women's volleyball team in both the Asian Championships and the Asian Cup.

In 2009, the Thai women's volleyball team rose to prominence, defeating defending champions Japan and the struggling Chinese women's volleyball team on their way to winning the Asian Championships. The Chinese women's volleyball team lost the championship in two consecutive Asian Championships, which directly led to the dismissal of head coach Cai Bin.

In the 2013 Asian Championships, Lang Ping returned to the helm and faced a big test. I had hoped to regain my position as the Asian hegemon in the new cycle, but I did not want to suffer a heavy blow. In the semi-finals, the Chinese women's volleyball team faced off against the host Thai women's volleyball team in a fierce five game match. In the decisive game, they lost 14-16 and missed the final 2-3. This is the first time since 1975 that the Chinese women's volleyball team has failed in the semi-finals of the Asian Championships. Subsequently, the Chinese women's volleyball team lost to the South Korean women's volleyball team in the third place, only ranking fourth, setting the worst record in 38 years at the Asian Championships.

This defeat also made Lang Ping determined to complete the transition between old and new. In the first training roster of 2014, following the recruitment of newcomer Zhu Ting the previous year, Lang Ping also recruited under-20 year old rookies such as main attacker Zhang Changning and deputy attacker Yuan Xinyue. Veterans such as Wang Yimei, Ma Yunwen, and Zhang Lei also gradually faded out of the national team. Lang Ping boldly employs and cultivates new talents, which not only leads to the emergence of talented Chinese women's volleyball players, but also promotes and motivates veteran players. In the end, the Chinese women's volleyball team created a great achievement in the Rio cycle, from being fourth in Asia to winning consecutive championships in the World Cup and Olympics.

Lang Ping and Zhu Ting

This year's Chinese women's volleyball team has a stable lineup and certain competitiveness, including young players with strong abilities. Wu Mengjie, Miao Yiwen, Xu Xiaoting, Xu Jianan, and Zhou Yetong all performed excellently at the Universiade. Duan Fang and Yang Hanyu are also experienced players, among which Yang Hanyu won the runner up of the 2023 Women's Volleyball World League with the Chinese women's volleyball team. Wang Yizhu and Yu Jiarui were selected for the Chinese women's volleyball squad at last year's World Championships. Coach Zhao Yong looked forward to the game and said, "We are based on ourselves, and we will strive for every game to achieve the results of the training period."