China's women's volleyball team will take the upcoming FIVB World Grand Prix as a warm-up for the Rio Olympics in August, head coach Lang Ping said here on Thursday.
According to the schedule of FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix 2016, China will host Thailand, Germany and the Uninte States from June 10 to 12 in Beilun, a port city in east China's Zhejiang Province. Afterwards, China will travel to Macao to play against Belgium, Serbia and Brazil from June 17 to 19. And in the final stage of preliminary round of Group 1, China will face the Netherlands, Germany and USA in Hong Kong from June 24 to 26.
The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix is the last and the most important competition for China before they embark on the Olympic campaign. "I hope my team can earn more experience and get more familiar with our opponents through the Grand Prix. Meanwhile, I expect to put our skills and tactics from training to real test so as to better prepare for the Rio Olympic Games," Lang Ping told media on Thursday afternoon.
China will take on the U.S. team, the world No. 1 side, on Sunday night, in a highly-anticpated clash that has been tipped to be a "rehearsal" of the women's volleyball final in Rio.
"I hope they are right," said Kiraly Karch, the head coach of U.S. team.
Lang, who was known as "Iron Hammer" during her career as an outside hitter, also said she would love to see an Olympic gold medal showdown between China and the U.S. side, but added that it's too early to predict.
"The U.S. are the undisputed world No. 1. But, in addition to the Americans, there are other strong opponents as well for China in Rio. We need to go step by step," said the 55-year-old.
Several key players including Hui Ruoqi, who inspired a second-string Chinese team to victory in the Montreux Masters tournament last week, have been left out of the squad for the World Grand Prix.
"Hui need to take a rest. As for when she could return to training with the national team, it depends on the result of medical examinations on her fitness," said Lang.
Hui returned to action following 150 days off the court due to a heart problem that required surgery in August last year and forced her to miss the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup.
