In the Paris Olympic cycle, the overall performance of the Chinese women's volleyball team was not satisfactory. Under the leadership of Cai Bin, the team failed to win a world championship title, and the gap with the world-class strong teams is growing larger. The aging of the players is serious, with many veterans facing retirement. Therefore, the restructuring of the Chinese women's volleyball team in the new cycle is imperative. Now that the World Championships are approaching, the restructuring has begun. A reserve talent training camp was specially held previously to select more capable newcomers.
In this restructuring of the Chinese women's volleyball team, the selection of the new captain has attracted much attention. In the Paris Olympic cycle, when Zhu Ting did not return to the team, Yuan Xinyue became the new captain of the Chinese women's volleyball team. Born from a military background, Yuan Xinyue has a tough style, unites her teammates, cares about the players, and can also play a leading role on the court. Therefore, even when Zhu Ting returned for the Paris Olympics, the captain of the Chinese women's volleyball team was still Yuan Xinyue.
After entering the new cycle, Yuan Xinyue chose to stay abroad in the Turkish Super League to continue improving herself. She performed excellently in the Turkish Super League and remained among the top world-class deputy attackers. It is highly likely that Yuan Xinyue will continue to choose to stay abroad in the next season. As a result, she cannot stay in China for a long time and may even miss the new training camp of the Chinese women's volleyball team. In such a situation, Yuan Xinyue is not suitable to continue serving as the captain of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and Zhu Ting, who also chose to stay abroad, is not suitable either.
In the new cycle, the captain of the Chinese women's volleyball team should meet three conditions at the same time: the first condition is to have strong organizational and communication skills; the second condition is to be able to maintain a starting position in the national team during the four years of the Los Angeles Olympic cycle; the third condition is to be a player playing in the domestic league, so that they can spend more time in the country.
Judging from the current strength of domestic players, three players are expected to become the new captain of the Chinese women's volleyball team. The first is Gong Xiangyu, who is already a three-time Olympian. She helped the Chinese women's volleyball team win the Rio Olympic gold medal and has rich experience in major competitions. She is very familiar with the structure of the Chinese women's volleyball team. Currently, there is a shortage of domestic reception talents, and no newcomer can match Gong Xiangyu. Therefore, in the Los Angeles Olympic cycle, Gong Xiangyu still firmly holds the starting position in the national team. However, the current problem facing Gong Xiangyu is severe injury issues.
The second is Wang Yuanyuan, who took over from Yan Ni in the Paris Olympic cycle and took the core deputy attacker position in the national team. During the Paris Olympic cycle, Wang Yuanyuan made rapid progress and performed outstandingly. She is still in her prime and has always played domestically. However, Wang Yuanyuan's introverted personality is her biggest shortcoming.
The third is Li Yingying, who is currently the leader of the Chinese women's volleyball team. In the Paris Olympic cycle, when Zhu Ting and Zhang Changning were absent, she took up the banner of the main attacker position of the Chinese women's volleyball team and entered the ranks of world-class assists. She is still in her golden age and firmly occupies the core position of the Chinese women's volleyball team in the new cycle. Moreover, Li Yingying has an outgoing personality and gets along well with her teammates. She even served as the captain of Tianjin women's volleyball team in the current season of the Chinese Volleyball Super League, accumulating certain experience. Therefore, the call for Li Yingying to serve as the captain of the Chinese women's volleyball team in the new cycle is very high.