By Wang Leon
CVA officials including Cai Yi, AVC Zonal Executive Vice President and AVC BA Member, second from left, and local organisers during the General Technical Meeting
Xi’an, China, September 15, 2021 – Eight teams are set to strut their stuff in the Senior Women’s Volleyball Tournament of the 14th National Games of the People’s Republic of China between September 16 and 26 in Xi’an, China, vying for the top honor of the country’s quadrennial event.
Jiangsu out to defend their title at the 14th China’s National Games
The tournament features 8 teams comprising Tianjin, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan and Guangdong, gathering to the host province of Shaanxi through the previous qualification tournament.
The Senior Women’s Volleyball Tournament of China’s National Games has been set to kick off at the Aoxiang Gymnasium of Northwest Polytechnical University after the rehearsal and final venue-check by the Control Committee Wednesday afternoon. The opening match will see Henan challenge Shanghai at 1:00pm Thursday local time.
The 8 participating teams will compete in the round-robin preliminaries from September 16 to 23. Top 4 teams will advance to semifinals, while the rest teams will be ranked according to their placing in the preliminaries.
In spite of the unsatisfactory result in Tokyo Olympic Games, it is highly anticipated when the players of China Women’s Volleyball team back to lead their home province team in the national games.
Powerhouses Tianjin with almost half a national team like Li Yingying, Yuan Xinyue, Wang Yuanyuan and Yao Di, Liaoning led by Ding Xia, Yan Ni and Liu Yanhan, and defending champions Jiangsu, armed by Zhang Changning and Gong Xiangyu, are expected to make their marks in the action-packed tournament, but strong teams such as Shanghai, Shandong and Zhejiang are ready to mount sturdy challenges against them. Henan led by Zhu Ting and Guangdong yet shall not be underestimated.
In the past 13 national games, 7 different teams have captured the eventual titles of the senior women’s tournament. Sichuan have won 4 titles in a row from the second to fifth editions but they failed to make it into the final 8 in the remaining editions. Tianjin claimed 3. Army, which have been dismissed through army reform, gained 2. Jiangsu, Fujian, Liaoning and Shanghai shared one apiece.
The previous edition was held in Tianjin City in 2017 when the Rio Olympic medalists Hui Ruoqi, Zhang Changning and Gong Xiangyu helped Jiangsu reign supreme following their convincing 3-0 win against Shanghai in the final showdown. Beijing picked up bronze medal after 3-0 rout of Liaoning in the third-place playoff.
Competition Schedule
Thursday, September 16
13:00 Henan v Shanghai
15:00 Guangdong v Zhejiang
17:00 Jiangsu v Tianjin
19:00 Liaoning v Shandong
Friday, September 17
13:00 Zhejiang v Jiangsu
15:00 Shanghai v Shandong
17:00 Tianjin v Liaoning
19:00 Henan v Guangdong
Saturday, September 18
13:00 Shandong v Tianjin
15:00 Liaoning v Zhejiang
17:00 Guangdong v Shanghai
19:00 Jiangsu v Henan
Sunday, September 19
13:00 Zhejiang v Shandong
15:00 Henan v Liaoning
17:00 Guangdong v Jiangsu
19:00 Shanghai v Tianjin
Monday, September 20
Rest Day
Tuesday, September 21
13:00 Liaoning v Guangdong
15:00 Jiangsu v Shanghai
17:00 Shandong v Henan
19:00 Tianjin v Zhejiang
Wednesday, September 22
13:00 Jiangsu v Liaoning
15:00 Guangdong v Shandong
17:00 Henan v Tianjin
19:00 Shanghai v Zhejiang
Thursday, September 23
13:00 Tianjin v Guangdong
15:00 Zhejiang v Henan
17:00 Liaoning v Shanghai
19:00 Shandong v Jiangsu
Friday, September 24
Rest Day
Saturday, September 25
Semifinals 1
Semifinals 2
Sunday, September 26
Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/AsianVolleyballConfederation
AVC Twitter: click: www.twitter.com/AsianVolleyball
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/avcvolley/?hl=en
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation
AVC WeChat: Asian Volleyball Confederation