BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- China's national women's volleyball team departed Shanghai on Friday for the upcoming Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2021 in Rimini, Italy, the team announced on social media.
Led by iconic head coach Lang Ping, the Chinese delegation features 22 members, including 13 players, although star players Zhu Ting and Yuan Xinyue are not among them.
16 teams, including China, United States, Brazil, Italy, Russia, Netherlands and Japan, will compete in the women's competition, which takes place from May 25 to June 26.
"It's atypical this year that I have to pay close attention to players' training and competitions," said Lang. "We will in a 'bubble' for five weeks and I'm well-prepared for that, both training and competition, and living."
Despite hosting the VNL in a secure bubble, the surging COVID-19 situation has still arisen concerns. After initially withdrawing from the competition earlier this month due to more than 20 positive COVID-19 cases on their team, Thailand were allowed to make changes to their roster, and the revised team left for Italy after all members tested negative.
According to the calendar, China will face three Asian teams in the first week of the competition, facing South Korea on May 25, Japan on May 26, and Thailand on May 27.
The full roster is as follows:
Setters: Diao Linyu, Yao Di
Middle blockers: Yang Hanyu, Gao Yi, Wang Yuanyuan, Zheng Yixin
Wing spikers: Li Yao, Zhang Changning, Liu Xiaotong, Liu Yanhan, Duan Fang
Liberos: Lin Li, Wang Mengjie
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