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Post by ironhammer on Dec 31, 2023 8:43:36 GMT -5
After an absence of more than 2 years, Zhang Changning has return to court, once again suiting up in her Jiangsu jersey to play for the team in the Chinese league: Here she is serving in a game just yesterday, for the first time in over 2 years: www.bilibili.com/video/BV1g5411z79Q/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.clickOver the last 2+ years, she attended to her life away from volleyball, getting married, going on honeymoon and engaging in various sport promotion activities. She has also been sidelined by injury which hopefully she will recover from. But its been a long while for her to be away from volleyball, can she still remain competitive and find her old form back? She seems to be hinting at wanting to get on the roster to Paris. Can she do so?
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Post by ironhammer on Jan 2, 2024 21:44:50 GMT -5
Here is another interview with Zhang about her return to court, and how the coach and team helped her recover:
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Post by Fe Gaslay on Jan 2, 2024 23:51:01 GMT -5
Noah fence but as a USA fan I’d rather d!3 than see a pin trio of LYY, Zhu, and ZCN for China❤️
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Post by ironhammer on Jan 3, 2024 8:55:41 GMT -5
Noah fence but as a USA fan I’d rather d!3 than see a pin trio of LYY, Zhu, and ZCN for China❤️ We'll have to see if Zhang can get back her form. She's been away from the game a long time. 2 years for a professional athlete career is very long after all. But if she can gain her form back and if Zhu Ting returns to the NT, then yeah, China can once again be a formidable force to be reckoned with. Only catch right now is the coach, Cai Bin. Fans of China regard him as totally out of his depths coaching for the NT. He's simply not on a level worthy to be a NT coach, or so claim the fans.
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Post by Carlito on Jan 3, 2024 12:52:33 GMT -5
Happy for her, I got to see her in person at VNL one year and she was impressive. In a gym full of other professional volleyball players her athleticism stands out
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Post by ironhammer on Jan 3, 2024 20:01:38 GMT -5
Happy for her, I got to see her in person at VNL one year and she was impressive. In a gym full of other professional volleyball players her athleticism stands out I remember China was so dominant at the 2019 World Cup, it was in part thanks to that trio "Zhu Yuan Zhang", consisting of Zhu Ting, Yuan Xinyue and Zhang Changning. If those three can get back together as a unit, China might be competitive again, plus LYY and Gong Xiangyu. Right now LYY can't carry the team on her own. There is also the question of setter though, Ding Xia is getting old. There is a question mark over Diao Linyu's ability and Yao Di is rumored to have a beef with Cai Bin the coach and is refusing to return to the team. Btw, I mentioned this before, but "Zhu Yuanzhang" was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He overthrew the Mongol occupiers but was also regarded as bloodthirsty and brutal tyrant who tortured his enemies (and even some of his former comrade in arms) to death and suffered from paranoia and a violent temper. Fans refer to the trio with that emperor name to show the three of them would be so "bloodthirsty" to their opponents on court. Although I don't think the torture part is quite an appropriate comparison.
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Post by volleyfan4321 on Jan 3, 2024 22:10:11 GMT -5
Zhang Changing - great player.
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Post by GatorsChomp on Jan 3, 2024 22:27:47 GMT -5
Happy for her, I got to see her in person at VNL one year and she was impressive. In a gym full of other professional volleyball players her athleticism stands out I remember China was so dominant at the 2019 World Cup, it was in part thanks to that trio "Zhu Yuan Zhang", consisting of Zhu Ting, Yuan Xinyue and Zhang Changning. If those three can get back together as a unit, China might be competitive again, plus LYY and Gong Xiangyu. Right now LYY can't carry the team on her own. There is also the question of setter though, Ding Xia is getting old. There is a question mark over Diao Linyu's ability and Yao Di is rumored to have a beef with Cai Bin the coach and is refusing to return to the team. Btw, I mentioned this before, but "Zhu Yuanzhang" was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He overthrew the Mongol occupiers but was also regarded as bloodthirsty and brutal tyrant who tortured his enemies (and even some of his former comrade in arms) to death and suffered from paranoia and a violent temper. Fans refer to the trio with that emperor name to show the three of them would be so "bloodthirsty" to their opponents on court. Although I don't think the torture part is quite an appropriate comparison. I also think she deserves her flowers for being important during the 2015-2017 Golden Era for the China NT.
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Post by ironhammer on Jan 3, 2024 22:45:11 GMT -5
I remember China was so dominant at the 2019 World Cup, it was in part thanks to that trio "Zhu Yuan Zhang", consisting of Zhu Ting, Yuan Xinyue and Zhang Changning. If those three can get back together as a unit, China might be competitive again, plus LYY and Gong Xiangyu. Right now LYY can't carry the team on her own. There is also the question of setter though, Ding Xia is getting old. There is a question mark over Diao Linyu's ability and Yao Di is rumored to have a beef with Cai Bin the coach and is refusing to return to the team. Btw, I mentioned this before, but "Zhu Yuanzhang" was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He overthrew the Mongol occupiers but was also regarded as bloodthirsty and brutal tyrant who tortured his enemies (and even some of his former comrade in arms) to death and suffered from paranoia and a violent temper. Fans refer to the trio with that emperor name to show the three of them would be so "bloodthirsty" to their opponents on court. Although I don't think the torture part is quite an appropriate comparison. I also think she deserves her flowers for being important during the 2015-2017 Golden Era for the China NT. Yes, that was a golden time for China. Thing was, Zhang was playing on the beach at first, but she wanted to return to the indoor game over opposition from the sport bureaucracy. At one point, she was looking at a premature retirement from the game as those bureaucrats banned her. But after an outcry from fans in Jiangsu (and the fact the team really needed her), the authorities relented and she was permitted to play once more for Jiangsu. Lang Ping saw her potential and recruited her to join the NT and the rest as they say, is history. Speaking of the NT, Zhang formed a close bond with her NT teammates, you can see some of them as bridesmaids at Zhang's wedding (see if you can spot Wei Qiuyue the setter, Hui Ruoqi, former captain and outside hitter, Liu Xiaotong the opposite and Xu Yunli the middle blocker):
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Post by volleyfan4321 on Jan 4, 2024 9:10:58 GMT -5
I feel privileged to have witnessed a great athletic talent like Zhang. Anyone who loves volleyball can watch her and see how the game is played by one of the best of all-time.
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Post by madden55 on Jan 4, 2024 9:59:50 GMT -5
Remember when she torched the VNL as the only like A team starter for the first half
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Post by volleyfan4321 on Jan 4, 2024 10:57:16 GMT -5
I wonder how the Chinese NT will do in Paris. I hope Zhang is a factor. It's good for the sport when the bright stars can play.
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Post by ironhammer on Jan 4, 2024 19:08:22 GMT -5
I wonder how the Chinese NT will do in Paris. I hope Zhang is a factor. It's good for the sport when the bright stars can play. Right now its not looking too promising, with Zhu Ting and Zhang being absent from the roster. Cai Bin's choices and decisions have also been questioned a lot by fans. If Cai doesn't improve his coaching, then China may not go very far.
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Post by volleyfan4321 on Jan 4, 2024 19:12:48 GMT -5
I hope China can work things out. Some great talent in China, but I won't pretend to know anything about what is going on with their coaching or federation. I do like many of their players though.
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Post by ironhammer on Jan 4, 2024 19:54:40 GMT -5
I hope China can work things out. Some great talent in China, but I won't pretend to know anything about what is going on with their coaching or federation. I do like many of their players though. The federation isn't exactly pleased with Cai Bin's performance. But he did coach China to the Asian Games gold, so that met the federation's basic requirement for him to keep his job. But that doesn't mean they are happy with the state of the team and the coaching. The real question is what they are going to do about it. Hopefully, Cai will reflect on his mistakes and errors. Chinese fans question whether he has the abilty to do so. But we'll have to wait and see. As for the other NT players besides Zhang, LYY was reportedly approached by a Turkish club, which club it was I am not sure, but she declined their offer. A mistake I think, since playing in the Turkish league will expose LYY to a higher level of play than the domestic Chinese league.
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