Hiroshima (CNS) -- The news that Saori Kimura, a key player of the Japanese women's volleyball team, has a secret crush on Yuan Lingxi, an assistant coach of the Chinese team, was widely speculated during the ongoing 2011 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup in Japan.
Yuan denied the gossip during an interview and on Weibo, a Chinese miroblog, on November 9, the second day after the news broke out, which was first released by a senior volleyball game reporter on Weibo and widely spread over newspapers and websites.
It was said that Kimura was first impressed by Yuan in 2006 and kept in contact with him in English since then.
Pushed by overwhelming spotlights, Yuan can't but state that all guesses about any close relationship between them are untrue and they are no more than acquaintances.
Yuan, 29, 1.95 meters tall, used to play in Tianjing men's volleyball team. He joined the national team as a training instructor when Chen Zhonghe was the chief coach.
