Where is Zhu Ting? China’s women’s volleyball coach Cai Bin addresses Nations League flak
- Calls for Cai to quit continue ahead of Hong Kong leg, after Zhu sat out much of previous round as China struggle to seal Olympic spot
The under-pressure coach of China’s women’s volleyball team has promised fans they will see more of superstar spiker Zhu Ting in the Hong Kong leg of the FIVB Women’s Nations League in the coming week.
Head coach Cai Bin was heavily criticised by Chinese fans and former professionals last week after his side lost two out of four games in the Macau leg, leaving the national team facing the possibility of missing out on qualifying for the Olympics for the first time in 40 years.
Little was seen in Macau of outside hitter Zhu, who is regarded as one of China’s greatest players but has battled a long-term wrist injury. Zhu started in the third game against Thailand, scoring 17 points, but was hardly used against the Netherlands, Japan and Italy.
“In Macau, she was able to get used to the rhythm of the game,” Cai said in a video shared on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
“She’s been slowly regaining her stamina … In Hong Kong, we will arrange for her to take to the court more and play more games to make the team stronger.
“I am confident we will qualify for the Olympics.”
The video was the first time Cai had publicly addressed questions about why Zhu had not been playing since the team bus was mobbed by fans in Macau calling for him to be sacked after a 3-0 defeat by Italy last Sunday.
His video seemed to do little to appease social media users, however, with hundreds commenting “step down”.
Some Weibo users speculated that Cai had said Zhu would feature more only because his preferred outside hitter, Ding Xia, had been struck down with an allergic reaction.
Zhu, who stands at 6ft 6in (1.98m), was part of the team who won Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, but a wrist injury sustained at the Tokyo Games five years later kept her away from the national side until April this year.
However, the 29-year-old has featured regularly for her club, Savino Del Bene Scandicci, helping them finish third in the Italian Cup and second in the league.
On Tuesday, the Hong Kong Coliseum will host the Nations League’s third and final round of pool fixtures.
China’s defeat by Japan in Macau meant their Asian rivals took pole position for the continent’s Olympic berth, leaving China fighting for one of three remaining spots.
They face Bulgaria and Germany in Hong Kong, in games they are expected to win. However, should they lose, they will be under huge pressure to get results against world No 1s Turkey and world No 3s Poland.
