Paris Olympics: China rugby sevens boss wants to improve on Tokyo, despite tough group
- China drawn alongside New Zealand, Fiji and Canada – all of whom are World Series grand finals sides
China’s rugby sevens boss Lu Zhuan wants the country’s women’s team to overcome a tough draw at the Paris Olympic Games next month where he will be seeking to outdo their Tokyo Games ranking.
“As difficult the draw may look, we hope to make the most of our momentum to challenge the world’s top teams,” Lu said. “Our target is to qualify for the quarter-finals before looking to have a crack at our [placing] three years ago.”
Games debutants China were one of the two third-placed teams to reach the knockout stage at the Tokyo Stadium before losing to France. Lu said a second successive Olympics appearance marked a “very effective and successful” turnaround from six months ago.
“Our team looked for reasons immediately after we missed out on qualification in the Asian qualifiers in Osaka [last November], and the key was ‘change and adapt’,” the 39-year-old said. “We changed to a system that suits us better and allows us to utilise our athletes’ strength more effectively.
“But the Olympics is a major event. We will deal with it match by match, let the girls enjoy the Games in the most relaxed mood while not letting pressure drag down their performance.
