Montreux, Switzerland, August 18th - The Volleyball titans from the Middle Kingdom are set to make their 26th appearance at the Montreux Volley Masters – a record in the history of the most prestigious invitational tournament in women’s Volleyball.
And this year’s edition will be a crucial one for Lang Ping’s squad. The Chinese want to use the Montreux Volley Masters as a last opportunity to gear up for the mission to claim gold at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship, set to start twenty days after the tournament in Switzerland. Therefore, the Chinese are likely to come to the shores of Lake Geneva with their stars in tow.
In the star-studded squad, all eyes will be on superstar Zhu Ting. The exceptionally skilled wing spiker is the big star in the roster of the reigning Olympic champs. Ting is considered one of the best players in the history of Volleyball and did not only lead China to gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics and the 2017 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup crown, but helped her current club VakifBank Istanbul to the CEV Champions League crown as well as the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in 2017 too. Nevertheless, the Chinese medal hopes are spread on many shoulders.
Another superstar in the squad is coach and living Volleyball legend Lang Ping. The former Chinese national player also known as “iron hammer” due to her impressive swing led the team from the Middle Kingdom to gold at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. Lang Ping has proven a Midas touch as coach too. After having coached the USA to glory at the Olympic Games in her hometown Beijing in 2008, Ping took over the Chinese team to lead them back to the top of international Volleyball. Under Ping, China claimed silver at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in 2014 and gold at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Now Ping has already set her sights on the one missing accolade in her impressive palmarès as coach: the crown at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship.
The reigning Olympic champs are without doubt one of the biggest title contenders - not only at the Montreux Volley Masters, but at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship too.