The accident and determination behind the first victory | The Walking Women s Volleyball World Championships

Reprinted from: People's Daily Central Kitchen-Whistle Sports Studio

Zheng Yi

The second game was 10:12, and the head coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team called a timeout. "Everyone has fewer ideas, be sure to be firm!" He kept reminding the team members.

In the first round of the group stage of the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championships, the world's fifth-ranked Chinese women's volleyball team faces the world's 23rd-ranked Mexican team. No one expected that the Chinese women's volleyball team, who lost one game first, would still fall behind in the second game.

At this time, the official camera captured a bright five-star red flag on the stands. Irving, a young man from Jiangsu who has been living in Chiang Mai, Thailand for 10 years, is leading the Chinese fans around him to cheer. Come on, gather the power of unity.

3:1 Reversal! The Chinese women's volleyball team finally won the first victory of this World Championships. "We must first be based on ourselves and reflect our own technical and tactical abilities on the court." Zhao Yong admitted after the game.

New lineup - 9 of the 14-man roster will play the first World Championships

On the evening of August 23 local time, there was one hour left before the first match of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and a heavy rain suddenly fell on Chiang Mai. The location of the competition, Chiang Mai International Convention and Exhibition Center, has been crowded with people, and a large number of Chinese fans gathered here.

Shenzhen fan Lin Xiaowei arrived from Bangkok two days ago. Before the World Championships officially started, the Chinese women's volleyball team played two warm-up matches with the host Thailand team. In the second game that was released to the public, Lin Xiaowei watched Li Yingying's comeback on the spot, "It's good news for the Chinese team!"

The previous World Women's Volleyball League, the reorganized new Chinese women's volleyball team was eye-catching. When Lin Xiaowei came to the World Championships that each team attached more importance to, she was full of confidence and was also worried: Will the new lineup of the Chinese women's volleyball team be studied targeted? Can young players with lack of experience withstand the pressure of the competition?

The average age of the Chinese women's volleyball team is just over 23 years old, and 9 of them are participating in the World Championships for the first time. Li Yingying, the main attacker who had been recuperating for half a year due to injury, returned from the front line, and Gao Yi, the deputy attacker who had outstanding blocking, was re-enlisted into the team.

Judging from the warm-up match, insufficient stability on both offense and defense still plagues the Chinese women's volleyball team. Facing the new World Championships system of group stage + single-sell elimination, the players' technical and tactical execution and mental adjustment ability determine how far they can go in the end.

Talking about the goals of this World Championships, Zhao Yong hopes to "reflect the results of training from the end of the World Women's Volleyball League to the World Championships." Captain Gong Xiangyu said, "Every opponent is very strong, and the first game against the Mexican team is also an encounter, and we will be careful to prepare."

Encounter-

Not adapting to the opponent's playing style and fluctuations in state

In most people's impression, the Mexican women's volleyball team is not a strong team. Their playing style has their own style and characteristics. They create trouble for the opponent's defense line through quick counterattacks, and their back-row protection capabilities are relatively outstanding. But the shortcomings are also obvious, and the strength of the network port and the ability to block and prevent is relatively average.

In this game, Li Yingying, who has attracted much attention from the outside world, made a starter and partnered with Zhuang Yushan on the main attacking line. The deputy attack line is joined by Wang Yuanyuan and Gao Yi, 17-year-old setter Zhang Zixuan, with the match between the old and the second setter Gong Xiangyu and the freeman Wang Mengjie, forming a lineup that combines the old and the old.

However, judging from actual combat performance, Li Yingying has not yet returned to her best condition, and the old problem of the slow start of the Chinese women's volleyball team still exists. In the first game, Mexico used its impactful serve and fast offense to seize the lead, and the defensive positioning was also prepared. In the backward situation, the Chinese team replaced Li Yingying and Gao Yi with Wu Mengjie and Wan Ziyue, but still failed to prevent the opponent from winning the game 25:22.

The second game was still a hard fight, and the two teams fought all the way to 23 draws. Mexico took the lead in getting the game point, and Wu Mengjie's spikes went out of bounds and tied the score again. At the critical moment, Zhao Yong used the main attacker Tang Xin to replace the second setter Zhang Zixuan to strengthen the blocking. The Chinese team indeed had a chance to counterattack, winning 26:24 and winning the big score to 1:1.

"In the first game of the World Championships, the players played too tightly in the first two games on the court, and their usual technical and tactical skills were not reflected. Fortunately, the players withstood the pressure in the second game, and this victory was very critical to the whole game." Zhao Yong said.

Starting from the third game, the Chinese women's volleyball team, which stabilized their positions, regained their touch and rhythm, and the gap in strength between the two sides began to emerge. After winning two consecutive games with 25:10 and 25:18, the Chinese women's volleyball team won the "good start" of this World Championships.

Zhuang Yushan scored the highest 23 points in this game. When the team encountered difficulties, she supported the offense with her outstanding game temperament. "Everyone is not very adapted to the opponent's playing style. When we are behind, we try to stay motivated. Every time we play a good ball, we cheer together and release our emotions."

Willpower - Under the pressure of the competition, the players gritted their teeth and withstand the first game of the World Championships is not easy to play. They must not only adapt to the venue and the atmosphere of the competition, but also activate the team and adjust their state. It is not only the Chinese women's volleyball team that fluctuated, but also strong teams such as Poland and the United States also lost a game in the first round of group stage.

In Zhao Yong's view, as a coach, he did not do a good job in helping the team remove their ideological burdens, so that the players were too reserved, which led to passive scenes. However, he also affirmed everyone's fighting spirit under the pressure of the competition.

Regarding the starting appearance of Li Yingying and Gao Yi, Zhao Yong explained that this arrangement is to give the team's arrangement more possibilities for change in the subsequent game, "I want them to adapt to the atmosphere of the game as soon as possible." Although this 3:1 reversal once made the fans worried, the fierce game made the audience enjoyable.. "When the Chinese women's volleyball team was behind, we always believed that the girls could get it back, and everyone's voices were hoarse!" Irving sighed. Whether it was the fans who came from China or the Chinese and overseas Chinese in Thailand, everyone's hearts were closely linked to the Chinese women's volleyball team.

Before leaving the venue, Irving held the volleyball signed by the Chinese women's volleyball players and waved to the reporter excitedly, "We will see you on the 25th!"