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At present, the first stage of the playoffs for the 2024-2025 season women's volleyball league has concluded, with Tianjin, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Liaoning successfully advancing to the top four. Among these teams, the Jiangsu women's volleyball team consists entirely of Chinese players, while the other three teams have introduced foreign players. So, who has been the most successful in recruiting foreign players? And what challenges have each team faced? Let's take a look at the details below:
Tianjin Women's Volleyball: Tapiya struggled to integrate into the team system, but local players like Chen Boya gained growth and confidence.
Unlike other teams in the Super League, Tianjin also had the task of participating in the World Club Cup this year. Tianjin had to enhance its strength through the introduction of foreign players to compete against high-level clubs like Conegliano. Tapiya was the foreign player Tianjin brought in for the reception position this season. However, not only did Tapiya fail to help the team, but she also put Tianjin in a dilemma. On one hand, Tapiya's strong attacking ability was significantly inferior to that of previous player Vargas. On the other hand, Tapiya did not receive serves, which meant that Tianjin's only strong attacking point, Li Yingying, had to receive serves to support Tapiya.
After careful consideration, Tianjin decided to bench Tapiya, and she remained on the sidelines throughout the season, including the World Club Cup. Tapiya's inability to play instead unleashed the potential of local players such as Chen Boya, Yang Yi, Liu Meijun, and Wang Yizhu, who stepped up to support the reception position. Tianjin's recruitment this season turned misfortune into blessing, not because of any misfortune, but because the failure of recruitment instead trained local players and built their confidence during the World Club Cup. Another foreign player, Fetisova, performed better and better in both attacking and blocking as the matches progressed, which should be considered a great success.
Shanghai Women's Volleyball: Xiaocaiwa's departure caused the team to lose its championship-winning power, and the season's goal was dashed prematurely.
For Shanghai, this season's recruitment presented two extremes: First, it became a favorite to win the championship. The arrival of Fedorovtseva greatly increased Shanghai's attacking power, even giving it the potential to challenge Tianjin for the Super League title. In an interview, Xiaocaiwa mentioned that she came to help Shanghai win the championship. Second, there were doubts about advancing to the top four. However, after Xiaocaiwa's sudden departure, regardless of the reasons for the controversy between the two sides, Shanghai went from being a championship contender to having to fight for a top-four spot.
During the regular season, playing half-strength lineups in two games against Shandong and Fujian indirectly led to Liaoning falling into the relegation zone, with some fans believing this was a deliberate act. In the playoff stage, Shanghai, with only one foreign player, Tanara, was defeated both home and away by the all-Chinese lineup of the Jiangsu team. There is also significant uncertainty about whether Shanghai can overcome Liaoning in the second stage of the playoffs. It can be said that Shanghai suffered a heavy blow in terms of recruitment this season.
Liaoning Women's Volleyball: Zatkovici and Aktas became the key to Liaoning's advancement to the top four, with Ding Xia revitalizing the entire team.
Liaoning is indeed the biggest winner in terms of recruitment this season. If it weren't for the new acquisitions of reception players Zatkovici and Aktas in the playoff stage, Liaoning might not have been able to defeat Shandong in crucial battles and advance to the top four. Zatkovici had some difficulty with strong attacks against Tianjin's high blocks; however, against other teams like Shandong and Beijing, her strong attacking ability was more than sufficient. Liaoning's local players, Duan Fang and Shi Bingtong, generally have average adjusting attack capabilities, making Zatkovici the decisive figure in Liaoning's strong attacks.
Turkish main attacker Aktas had limited playing time, but in the match against Shandong, replacing Shi Bingtong, his serving and attacking performance were commendable. Liaoning's newly recruited foreign players were able to integrate into the team after just two matches, which should be considered a great success. Of course, the ability to activate foreign players is also due to the excellent passing skills of veteran Ding Xia. Without the two new foreign players, Liaoning would probably only be able to participate in the ranking matches.
What are your thoughts on the recruitment situations of Tianjin, Liaoning, and Shanghai? Feel free to leave comments and discuss. Thank you for reading!