Lang Ping sets China on right path

Finishing the 2013 FIVB World Grand Prix Finals with four wins and a loss in Sapporo, China won a silver medal at the six-team round robin tournament, equaling their best result since 2007, when they took the second place too. More than four months after taking the helm of the national team, Lang Ping has set China on the right path to returning to the world elite teams club. "The Chinese team is in very good shape. There are a lot of changes, they rotated the players and I can see their improvement," said Brazil head coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes. Before falling to Brazil 3-0 in the last round match on Sunday, China have won 13 matches in this year's World Grand Prix to set a record long winning streak in their participation in the annual women's volleyball tournament. It was also China's first defeat in 20 matches under their newly appointed coach Lang Ping, who took over Yu Juemin following a disappointing fifth finish of the traditional powerhouse in last year's London Olympic Games. "It is a little surprising to me that we come out finishing with the silver medal, I did not expect that actually," said Lang Ping. "I think it's pretty good result. Although we had ups and downs during the tournament, I am very happy that our players achieved this result with great team work." Lang Ping was trying to use different players and line-ups throughout the World Grand Prix. She even rested Zhu Ting, who was later selected to the World Grand Prix Dream Team as Fist Outsider Hitter, in the match against Brazil. "Actually, we came to the Grand Prix to try and play all the players so they can use the tournament to grow. I don't want to only play six players," said Lang Ping. "Sometimes young players like Zhu Ting had up and downs, so we want to let her watch some games to learn and then come into the game with no heavy pressure. We are trying to develop our young players; this is our goal." Despite the good result, Lang Ping believed that her team had a lot to improve to be a real strong team. "We learned so much and also could see the talent of our young players. We know in the future who we want to work on. There are lots of areas we should improve," she said. "What we should learn from Brazil and Japan is the ball control. If we can improve on that, we can speed up and play more tactical combinations." The Chinese players were enjoying playing under the guidance of their idol in childhood. "This is a new team and we have a coach, I think we have learned a lot from her and we will just try our best," said Wang Yimei. After the conclusion of the World Grand Prix Finals, the Chinese team will have less than two weeks to prepare for the upcoming Asian Championships. "Of course we will try to get good results. Everybody wants to win the gold medal, but we have to do it step by step. We will have strong teams to play, like the Japanese team we played at this tournament, and also South Korea, Thailand, Kazakhstan. They are all very good teams and we'll see who can perform to their best standard."