Interview: China's volleyball team captain Jiang has eyes on Paris 2024

BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- After a 50-day closed training camp in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, China's men's volleyball team on Tuesday embarked on their 2022 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) journey, taking the first step towards qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

After missing out on most international competitions over the last two years, the Chinese team looks like a mystery to the public, but in the view of its captain Jiang Chuan, a clear goal can lead them to success.

"The team's top priority is to get a ticket to Paris 2024," Jiang told Xinhua.

After FIVB's change to the sport's Olympic qualification system, world rankings will play a bigger role in the definition of quotas, and China must earn as many ranking points as possible in the next couple of events to qualify for Paris 2024.

The arduous task falls on the shoulders of a young team. The latest 25-man VNL rosters show China's average age is 25 years old, including six players born in 1999 and three born in 2000.

"Compared with top-tier teams like Brazil, Serbia and Argentina, we are a very young and inexperienced team," said Jiang. "In men's volleyball, a player's peak comes at around 30 years old since one can develop stable movements at that time."

Despite a lack of international experience, Jiang added that the surge of young talent has triggered positive competition among Chinese players, and the international stage is the best platform for them to improve quickly.

"Playing in high-level games can enrich their experience," the captain said. "The more they encounter a situation, the more confident they will be next time they deal with the same situation."

Joining the national team in 2016, the 27-year-old, who is in the prime of his career, takes the responsibility of being a mentor to young players. "I don't want them to walk on a winding course. I want to provide them shortcuts that are driven from my experience, so they can improve quicker," he said.

Jiang also serves as a bridge between coach Wu Sheng and young players in terms of communication. "Coach Wu is very strict and some young players can be afraid to speak their minds, and I can help them communicate better," Jiang said. "For instance, if the young players feel fatigued, I would suggest the coach switch a training session with tape study."

China's men's volleyball team's latest international appearance was at the 2021 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship, where they took home the bronze medal. Jiang was satisfied with the result but also wanted to remind the team to realize its position worldwide. "We are narrowing the gap with top Asian teams, but we are still unclear of where we are among the world's best teams", he said. "We have been preparing by watching other team's recaps, and we will examine ourselves in the games."

"We will try our best to beat the Asian rivals at the first station in Brazil, and we will go all out to compete with American and European teams to gain confidence," Jiang spoke ahead of the VNL, with China's first game against Iran on June 8.

For him, confidence is the most important thing for this squad. "We gradually lost our confidence in straight losses in previous VNLs. This time, we will start off with full confidence, otherwise, we will be playing in their hands once again."

Speaking of his personal goal, Jiang said he would like to play in more competitive leagues overseas in the future, but for now, he is concentrating on bringing his team to the Olympics. "I have never thought of how far my career would be, but I will play as long as the national team needs me," Jiang stated.