China vs. Russia | Thu 7/29 3:20am ET | Pool of Death

[trojansc]

Stream: stream.nbcolympics.com/volleyball-womens-prelim-match-16-china-russia

Stats: olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/volleyball/result-women-gpb-000800-.htm

So, can Russia pull it off? Theoretically, China could still qualify for the QF's with a loss here, but, it would be very tough and likely require tiebreakers. Both teams already have a 3-0 sweep loss, China has two actually, so that is not good when tie-breakers are involved.

There's too many scenarios to account for and even the winner of this match could also still lose a tie-breaker scenario (particularly if its a 3-2 result) but I think the most likely scenario is the winner of this match qualifies for the QF's and the loser doesn't.

Russia is very messy, but China's play has also been messy. Russia is still a physical team that can block and attack well. This should be an intense match.

[CAI BIN MUST GO]

China won't get anywhere with their serving against USA and Turkey.

I hope LYY and Yao Di start.

[trojansc]

Jul 28, 2021 12:46:22 GMT -5 CAI BIN MUST GO said:

China won't get anywhere with their serving against USA and Turkey.

I hope LYY and Yao Di start.

By LYY starting, do you want Zhu OH + Zhang at OPP?

[Deleted]

I think I actually like Russia’s chances here. They gave china a scare when China was playing very well at the VNL

[chatchu-off moksri]

I haven't been watching Russia this Olympics. How has Fedorotseva been holding up on serve receive?

[CAI BIN MUST GO]

Jul 28, 2021 13:00:26 GMT -5 trojansc said:

Jul 28, 2021 12:46:22 GMT -5 CAI BIN MUST GO said:

China won't get anywhere with their serving against USA and Turkey.

I hope LYY and Yao Di start.

By LYY starting, do you want Zhu OH + Zhang at OPP?

I haven't really thought of who else at the pins tbh. Just want to say that LYY deserves to start and Ding deserves to sit down and take a chill pill after some of those sets.

Might as well put Zhu OH and Zhang as OPP. Gong is there for defense and I'm not seeing it. But then Yao Di sets Gong well so might as well leave her in.

In one of the sets vs. USA that actually happened (Zhu/Li OH, Zhang OPP) after a double sub.

[CAI BIN MUST GO]

honestly, if it's a mutual-exclusive choice between
- group stage exit
- qf loss to Serbia

then I'd rather they have a group stage exit so the coaches and the CVA people can take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror and ask where they went wrong. Paris is only three years away and the ages of most of these players absolutely give them time to recover and be a medal contender in 3 years.

As long as the non-players know what they're doing...

[Reach]

China is more the Zhu but they aren't playing like it. Also, Jenny should have had her team playing the entire time at the VNL. It would have raised the level of competition and prepared them more. Even if Zhu didn't play until the end. Big mistake.

[dubs up]

I hope everyone on China can step up so Zhu Ting can rest a little bit. It's really heartbreaking to see her grimace in pain after every swing.

[CAI BIN MUST GO]

Jul 28, 2021 18:14:24 GMT -5 Reach said:

China is more the Zhu but they aren't playing like it.

Not really, Zhu covers up a lot of other people's problems.

[ironhammer]

Jul 28, 2021 16:33:56 GMT -5 CAI BIN MUST GO said:

honestly, if it's a mutual-exclusive choice between
- group stage exit
- qf loss to Serbia

then I'd rather they have a group stage exit so the coaches and the CVA people can take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror and ask where they went wrong. Paris is only three years away and the ages of most of these players absolutely give them time to recover and be a medal contender in 3 years.

As long as the non-players know what they're doing...

I don't know, old habits die hard in China's volleyball world. Domestic critics have long pointed out problems with the Chinese volleyball league. That the pool of elite volleyball players are too small. That they aren't expose to very high level international volleyball until they reach the NT, by which time it may be too late for them to make a big leap in improvement in skills. That the league and Chinese volleyball in general is under-funded and lack adequate resources. That the coaches in Chinese volleyball lag behind their international peers in coaching skills and techniques and moreover, that they are resistant to new ideas and innovations, they are stuck in their old ways. These issues have been raised for well over a decade, yet only a few improvements were made, except for some cosmetic changes here and there. The vested interest in the existing system is too strong to make the necessary reform.

Lang Ping's excellent coaching skills and the rise of Zhu Ting has to some extent covered up those problems, but those problems are still there. Would China's exit in the quarter-final, or worst, being unable to qualify for the quarter-final wake them up? It will certainly be a shock, but enough of a shock for the Chinese to make more drastic reform to their volleyball program? That I am not sure.

[Resident Bitchy Canadian Fan]

Im honestly thinking of napping between 11 and 2:30 just to watch this

[ironhammer]

Jul 28, 2021 13:02:34 GMT -5 @madden54 said:

I think I actually like Russia’s chances here. They gave china a scare when China was playing very well at the VNL

Agree, China is mentally weak and seem to struggle to get out of their funk. While you can argue China did play better against the US than against Turkey, they still are very inconsistent and collapse in the crucial points. I think Russia is the favorite here.

[trojansc]

Jul 28, 2021 21:38:30 GMT -5 Resident Bitchy Canadian Fan said:

Im honestly thinking of napping between 11 and 2:30 just to watch this

Honestly DR/Korea is doing their best to put you to sleep, so, you're on your way.

[CAI BIN MUST GO]

Jul 28, 2021 21:40:38 GMT -5 ironhammer said:

Jul 28, 2021 13:02:34 GMT -5 @madden54 said:

I think I actually like Russia’s chances here. They gave china a scare when China was playing very well at the VNL

Agree, China is mentally weak and seem to struggle to get out of their funk. While you can argue China did play better against the US than against Turkey, they still are very inconsistent and collapse in the crucial points. I think Russia is the favorite here.

Normally they're pretty strong mentally... I don't think any other team would have held up against the Brazilians (+ home crowd!) in Rio for example. And taking the 4th set vs Italy in 2018 WCh to send it to a decider, or coming back from two sets down vs Italy in the 2019 VNL.

Something abnormal happened between the last VNL match vs USA and the first group-stage match vs. Turkey. I'm not exactly sure what yet but Zhu Ting's wrist is probably one of them (although it's an inadequate explanation since the team basically beat Turkey without Zhu in 2019 VNL).