The Chinese women's volleyball team has always been the face of China's three major ball sports. However, their performance in the last two Olympics has been disappointing, with a ninth-place finish and a fifth-place finish, which did not meet expectations. After Lang Ping was ousted from her position as head coach and criticized by the Volleyball Association, it became clear that there were internal issues within the team. The ninth-place result cannot be attributed solely to the head coach, but aside from removing Lang Ping, no other effective measures seem to have been taken. After Cai Bin took over from Lang Ping, despite his rigid selection of players, lack of passion in coaching, and questionable choices, he still managed to complete the entire cycle.
Much like Wang Yunlu defended Cai Bin after being eliminated, Cai Bin often felt helpless, so he is likely just an executor rather than a decision-maker, and his coaching may have been constrained. On January 10th, when the news of Li Quanqiang's investigation was announced, it was truly heartening, as the women's volleyball team began to receive attention. The team's losses were not due to chance factors, and we look forward to the revelation of Li Quanqiang's crimes. Li Quanqiang's predecessor was Pan Zhichen, who was investigated in 2015 and ultimately sentenced to four years in prison for bribery in 2017, with a fine of 300,000 yuan. However, Pan Zhichen was investigated for problems in fencing, unrelated to volleyball. This time, Li Quanqiang's issues are definitely related to volleyball.
Li Quanqiang has been the deputy director of the Volleyball Management Center since 2006 and served as the vice-chairman of the Volleyball Association in 2007. If he wanted to do something, it would have been quite convenient. Despite the previous issues with his predecessor, he did not learn from them but instead followed in Pan Zhichen's footsteps, which is disappointing and unfortunate for the Chinese women's volleyball team. Li Quanqiang's problems are likely similar to Pan Zhichen's, and there are also suspicions of nepotism. We can only wait for the investigation results. The current director of the Volleyball Management Center, Lai Yawen, has not been seen for a long time. She has been Li Quanqiang's assistant for many years, and whether she can remain unscathed remains to be seen.
If the Chinese women's volleyball team wants to achieve good results in the next Olympics, they indeed need a clean slate. We need capable players to be selected for the national team, and we do not need nepotism; otherwise, we will end up with nothing. At the same time, the Chinese Volleyball Association owes Lang Ping an apology. If I'm not mistaken, we haven't seen any photos of Lai Yawen and Lang Ping together since the Tokyo Olympics, but Lang Ping has remained active domestically, which is intriguing. The new head coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team has not yet been announced, and under these circumstances, there is a high possibility of a change in leadership. Young coaches like Chen Fang, Kuang Qi, and Zhao Yong can all give it a try. We need young and passionate people to lead the volleyball team.
