Time flies, and before we know it, we have arrived at January 2025. The second round of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Super League playoffs has quietly concluded. The latest standings have been released, showing significant changes compared to the previous rankings. In Group C, Jiangsu and Shanghai exchanged their positions as first and second, while in Group D, Liaoning Volleyball Team made a late surge, securing their first victory of the new year and climbing to second place. It is clear that this year's playoffs are fiercely competitive, with each team continuing to intensify their efforts in the final four rounds to see who can successfully advance to the top four. However, due to the extended league schedule, the semi-finals have also been postponed, which is the biggest adjustment for this year's league.
Since the end of the league has been pushed back to March, the original training time for the Chinese Women's National Volleyball Team has been correspondingly reduced. Cai Bin can only select the new training roster based on the players' performance in the league. Since entering the Los Angeles Olympic cycle, the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team has faced new challenges, making the selection of talent more urgent than ever. It is known that the current national team is undergoing a comprehensive reshuffle, with many new and old national players basically confirmed to be retiring. This is not good news for Cai Bin. Taking the setter position as an example, the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team will likely start reshuffling here first. Cai Bin's protégé, Di Linyu, has already determined her career direction after retirement, which means that Di Linyu will play for at most one more year, probably after this year's National Games, she will retire from the national team.
Di Linyu missed all of Jiangsu Volleyball Team's games due to injury until the playoffs when she finally returned. However, upon her return, Di Linyu also clarified her current situation, stating that the change in identity is a leap in her career and a challenge. Di Linyu's future will undoubtedly revolve around Nanjing Agricultural University, which is an indisputable fact, and she will be the first player to retire from the national team. Speaking of Wang Yunlu, who is far away in the Russian Super League, Cai Bin originally selected her as a temporary replacement for Zhu Ting. Now that Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning have both returned and expressed their willingness to continue serving the national team, Wang Yunlu naturally becomes somewhat redundant.
Moreover, there are two rising stars in the same position, Wu Mengjie and Zhuang Yushan, leaving even less room for Wang Yunlu, and her retirement from the national team is almost certain. In addition, Jin Ye, Wang Yunlu's substitute in the club, will also find it difficult to be selected for the new training roster. The main reason is obvious; Jin Ye's performance this year in Beijing Team was quite good, but the competition for the main attacker position in the national team is fierce, and Jin Ye's age is a factor, reducing her value for development. Furthermore, Jin Ye did not have any outstanding performances during her time with the national team, causing Cai Bin to lose confidence in her. Naturally, Jin Ye will have to retire from the national team, with little opportunity in the new cycle. There is another national player whose situation is somewhat similar to these three, and that is Gao Yi, the vice attacker.
Spanning two Olympic cycles, Gao Yi has shown little progress. After returning to the league this year, she has completely fallen behind, performing far worse than Yang Han Yu and Wang Yuanyuan, among others. In the latest vice attacker rankings, Gao Yi has dropped out of the top 10, and her teammate Xue Yizhi's form is much better than hers. Therefore, the increase in age and the rise of new talents in the same position have put double pressure on Gao Yi, making it highly likely that she will retire from the national team. Cai Bin will then promote more excellent newcomers to join the team. At present, there are indeed many young talents in Chinese volleyball who have yet to realize their potential, and five newcomers are particularly promising. They are Chen Boya from Tianjin Volleyball Team, Jie Shengyu from Shandong Volleyball Team, Liu Zhenning from Yunnan Volleyball Team, Zhang Zihan from Henan Volleyball Team, and Yang Yuning from Sichuan Volleyball Team.
These five young players have never represented the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team in international competitions, and some have never even been selected for the national team. With the new cycle, as the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team undergoes a new round of reshuffling, these players will have an excellent opportunity to rise to prominence. Therefore, we also hope that they can soon receive Cai Bin's attention, be selected for the Chinese Women's National Volleyball Team, and bring glory to our country!