The Chinese super star will try to help her country qualify for Paris
Zhu Ting during her last match with China at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Zhu Ting is back! The 29-year-old super star will play for China again. Zhu made the announcement on social media herself.
“Today, April 8, 2024, I officially confirmed with the Chinese Volleyball Association that I will return to the national team during the FIVB Volleyball Nations League,” she stated at the beginning of her post.
Zhu will devote herself to helping China secure a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the team’s results in the Preliminary Phase of the VNL will be crucial in achieving that goal.
The Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist and MVP last played for China at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, after which she took time off for wrist surgery. After her recovery, Zhu returned to the courts in 2022 and has been playing top-level club volleyball for Italy’s Savino Del Bene Scandicci, but she never rejoined the national team until now.
Without their star outside hitter, China failed to take advantage of hosting one of the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifiers in Ningbo last September and finished third in their pool, just below the cut-off for the Olympics. Currently, the team is ranked sixth in the world and is the highest ranked Asian team in the women’s FIVB World Ranking, hence in the best position to snatch the continental ticket to Paris, but will have to fight during the VNL Preliminary Phase to remain in a qualifying position.
China will start their VNL 2024 campaign on May 14 with an all-Asian clash against Korea in Rio de Janeiro and will also play against reigning Olympic champions United States, Canada and reigning world champions Serbia during the first competition week. In week two, Zhu and her teammates will host one of the VNL pools in Macao, facing the Netherlands, Japan, Thailand and Italy. The team’s last four games before the Olympic qualification process is completed will also be played in front of a home crowd, in Hong Kong, where China will meet Bulgaria, Germany, Türkiye and Poland.
Here is Zhu Ting’s full statement
“Today, April 8, 2024, I officially confirmed with the Chinese Volleyball Association that I will return to the national team during the FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
“The sole purpose of my return is to contribute to securing a spot for the Chinese…
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