The Chinese women's volleyball team still lost, and Li Yingying was exhausted
No one would have thought that the Chinese women's volleyball team would lose to the Canadian women's volleyball team, at least Chinese fans and most media did not. On the evening of September 20th, Beijing time, in the fourth round of Group A of the women's volleyball qualifying round at the Paris Olympics, the Chinese women's volleyball team fought hard for five innings and lost 2-3 to the Canadian women's volleyball team, missing their fourth consecutive win. In this game, Chinese main attacker Li Yingying scored 30 points and became the scoring king. She also performed well on the defensive end, but unfortunately, it was difficult to save on her own. The Serbian women's volleyball team secured the top spot in Group A with four consecutive wins.
The Chinese team and the Canadian team have faced each other 8 times in official matches, with 7 wins and 1 loss dominating. In the first three games, the Chinese team achieved a complete victory without conceding a single game, while the Canadian team had 1 win and 2 losses.
However, upon careful analysis, the opponents of the Chinese team in the first three matches were all weaker, namely Ukraine, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. The world ranking of the Canadian team is higher than that of the first three opponents. Looking at the three matches of the Canadian team, they first defeated the Netherlands 3-2, then suffered a 2-3 defeat to the Dominican Republic and a 0-3 defeat to Serbia. These three opponents of the Canadian team are the formidable opponents that the Chinese team will face.
The schedule of the Chinese team is easy first and then difficult. Three consecutive victories may seem smooth, but in reality, there is a hidden crisis. The team has not yet played a difficult encounter. The Canadian women's volleyball team used to have average strength, but in the past two to three years, they have made significant progress. In the first round, they defeated the strong Netherlands team by relying on sharp attacks. The main attacker Gray scored the highest 28 points of the game, while the receiver Van Rijk also scored 19 points.
The Canadian team has outstanding strong attacking ability. Gray is the main attacker of Serie A giants Corneliano, and Van Riker plays in Turkish Super League Türkiye Airlines. Both of them are outstanding, but the level of players in other positions of the Canadian team is average. The last match between the Chinese team and the Canadian team was in this year's World Women's Volleyball League, where the Chinese team easily defeated their opponents 3-0. At that time, Gray hastily returned and was in poor form. The whole team relied heavily on Van Rijk to support themselves, so it was reasonable for the Chinese team to win easily. This reunion was incomparable.
At the beginning of this game, the Canadian team's attack was quite impactful, relying on the key points at the end of the game to secure the next city. In the second round, the Chinese team adjusted and strengthened their attack, especially limiting their opponents in blocking, and regained one game. In the crucial third game, Canada's attack remained strong and the score was always leading. China's team was replaced by Ding Xia and Zhong Hui at the end of the game, striving to catch up with the score, but unfortunately lost one game. In the fourth game, the Chinese team fought back with tenacious defense, dragging the game to the final game. In the fifth inning, the Chinese team had a small climax of 6-1 at the beginning, but there were fluctuations in the subsequent pass, and they ultimately lost.
Looking at the entire game, the Chinese team had unstable passes, which resulted in ineffective tactical attacks. Wang Yuanyuan and Yuan Xinyue had no fastballs to play as their secondary attackers. In the case of only being able to adjust strong attacks, the Canadian team has two strong attack points, Gray and Van Raik, while the Chinese team only has one point, Li Yingying. Especially when it was Li Yingying's turn in the back row, the Chinese team's attack was almost difficult to break through the opponent's block. After Wu Mengjie was substituted in the third game, her powerful dunking in the fourth position had some power, but her defense was relatively weak, and she also lacked experience in international competitions.
From a positive perspective, losing is not a bad thing, and the Chinese women's volleyball team should be more cautious and meticulous in preparing for the upcoming matches. As head coach Cai Bin said, "Among the teams that can participate in the Olympic qualifiers, there are no weak teams. The Chinese women's volleyball team needs to take every opponent seriously in order to achieve good results."
