Why is Chinese women's volleyball declining?

As one of the highly anticipated teams, the Chinese women's volleyball team returned home early from the 2025 World Volleyball Championship taking place in Thailand.

The Chinese women's volleyball team brought a very young and inexperienced squad to this year's World Championship - Photo: FIVB

On the evening of August 31, in the round of 16 of the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championship, the Chinese team lost 1-3 to France. Not being able to get a ticket to the quarterfinals was considered a failure for the Asian team.

Transitional phase

China's main hitter Zhang Yushuan is only 22 years old this year - Photo: FIVB

In the past, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the world championship twice in 1982 and 1986. At the Olympic stage, they also won three gold medals in 1984, 2004 and 2016.

Almost every time they enter a major tournament, the Chinese women's volleyball team is always among the championship candidates. Although they are an Asian team, they have a team of athletes with very good height, more than many Western teams. That is why China is a rare Asian volleyball team that plays with an offensive style, instead of focusing on defense like Japan or Thailand.

At the last three World Cups, the team has at least reached the quarter-finals. They even won silver and bronze medals in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Yet this year, China were eliminated in the round of 16 by a much weaker opponent, France.

Fans of this team have heavily criticized the result, as being eliminated before the quarter-finals is an unacceptable result. But in all fairness, with the current squad, it is difficult to demand much from the Chinese women's volleyball team.

Wu Mengjie is an athlete with great potential for future development - Photo: FIVB

They still have athletes with impressive height, but too little experience. This year, coach Zhao Yong has drastically rejuvenated the team. That is why he brought to the World Championship names that are even only 17 years old such as setter Zhang Zizuan, opposite Yang Shuming.

The rest are also very numerous in the U23 age group, including middle blocker Chen Houyu (19 years old), Wan Ziyue (20 years old), main blocker Xin Tang (21 years old), Zhuang Yushan (22 years old), Wu Mengjie (22 years old),...

Many people wondered why Zhao Yong did not call up the experienced striker Zhu Ting - who is only 30 years old and has won the Olympics. But before the tournament, this strategist had set his sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and that is why he took the risk of eliminating stars with a lot of battle experience.

At first, many Chinese volleyball fans agreed with coach Zhao Yong. But perhaps with the pressure of results, many people turned to criticize him and the team.

Injury pillars

Injury has severely limited Li Yingying's contributions - Photo: FIVB

Perhaps coach Zhao Yong himself was also under this pressure. At the last minute when finalizing the squad list, he added the name of main striker Li Yingying. This athlete is only 25 years old, so it can be considered suitable for the criteria of rejuvenating the team.

But the problem is that she suffered a serious injury at the beginning of the year and had to undergo surgery. Chinese media revealed that Li Yingying had not fully recovered and could not be in the best condition when entering the 2025 World Championships.

If she had not been injured, the 2000-born striker would have certainly made great contributions. But right now, she shows that she has a slow and weak momentum, unable to keep up with the team's fast-paced attacking style.

Besides Li, main striker Wu Mengjie also suffered an injury since participating in the Volleyball Nations League a few months ago. This also significantly affected the scoring of the Chinese team.

According to statistics, China has no attacker in the top 10 scorers of the tournament. The best player to do this is Zhuang Yushan, who scored 58 points in 4 games, ranking 14th.

This defeat was quite bitter for the Chinese women's volleyball team. But with their position and class, they are completely capable of standing up to regain their name in the near future.

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DUC KHUE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vi-sao-bong-chuyen-nu-trung-quoc-sa-sut-20250901093613875.htm