As the former head of Chinese volleyball, Li Quanqiang's investigation was announced yesterday afternoon, causing a shock in the volleyball world. A topic of concern is whether Cai Bin, the head coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team, will renew his contract after not being seen since the Paris Olympics. Now that his mentor Li Quanqiang has been implicated, it seems difficult for Cai Bin to stay on. The current director of the Volleyball Management Center is Lai Yawen, and her good friend Lang Ping may return to take up the coaching position again.
Cai Bin began his second stint as head coach of the women's volleyball team in early 2022, which coincided with Lai Yawen becoming the director of the Volleyball Management Center. Prior to this, Li Quanqiang retired at the end of 2021 due to age. It can be said that when Cai Bin returned to coach the women's volleyball team, Lai Yawen did not take the lead; it was still Li Quanqiang who was in charge.
When Cai Bin took office, his main task was the Paris Olympics. In the end, he led the women's volleyball team to three consecutive victories in the group stage of the Paris Olympics but was eliminated in the first round of the knockout stage, ultimately failing to reach the semi-finals. However, compared to the results of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 under Lang Ping's leadership, there was some improvement. After the Paris Olympics, opinions were divided on Cai Bin's performance. Some believe that his coaching record has improved and should continue to be used; others argue that Lang Ping's poor performance in the Tokyo Olympics was due to internal issues and not a true reflection of their abilities. Therefore, opinions are mixed on whether Cai Bin should continue to coach the women's volleyball team.
After the Paris Olympics, with no major competitions for the women's volleyball team, Cai Bin has not been seen for a long time. After the Paris Olympics, it is said that Cai Bin's contract has expired, yet there has been no official word on whether he will renew his contract.
It is worth noting that this time, Li Quanqiang's investigation mentioned that he is being investigated by relevant departments in Jiangsu. Referring to the previous case where Li Tie was investigated by Hubei police, it was because Li Tie's problems originated from his time coaching Wuhan Zall. Therefore, it can be inferred that Li Quanqiang's problems are related to Jiangsu. And Cai Bin previously coached Jiangsu women's volleyball for a long time. Although this does not necessarily mean that Cai Bin is associated with Li Quanqiang's investigation, Li Quanqiang was once Cai Bin's mentor, which naturally leads to speculation.
According to the conventions of the Chinese sports world, many heads of sports centers tend to use coaches they have selected themselves. However, Cai Bin was not chosen by the current head of the Volleyball Management Center, Lai Yawen, and with Li Quanqiang now implicated, it seems increasingly difficult for Cai Bin to continue coaching.
If Lai Yawen were to choose a new head coach for the women's volleyball team, who would she pick? Most people would probably think of Lang Ping. Lai Yawen and Lang Ping have been good teammates since their playing days. Later, when Lang Ping coached the women's volleyball team, Lai Yawen was still her assistant, and they worked very well together. When Lai Yawen moved into administrative management, Lang Ping continued to coach the women's volleyball team, and they remained good partners. Therefore, if Lai Yawen were to bring back her good friend Lang Ping, it would be a natural choice.
Lang Ping has coached the Chinese women's volleyball team several times before, always taking over when the team was in a low point and leading them to glory, especially winning the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, which is recorded in history. Now, with Li Quanqiang, who has deep roots in Chinese volleyball, being investigated, it is bound to cause a major reshuffle. Many people are looking forward to seeing if Lang Ping can once again play the role of savior and return to coach the women's volleyball team.