The Chinese women's volleyball team, the Athens Olympic champions, will take on powerhouse Cuba in friendly series from Feb. 24 to Mar. 2 to warm up for the Beijing Olympics.
The six-match series will take place in six different cities among southern China's Fujian province and eastern China's Zhejiang province.
"We did a nice job in the winter training camp, and I hope the first warm-up matches this year will be a good test for my players," said Fujian-born head coach Chen Zhonghe after Saturday's training session ahead of their first friendly match inFuzhou, capital of Fujian province on Feb. 24.
Chen confirmed that team captain Feng Kun, who was sidelined for the entire 2007 due to knee injury and long-time absentee ZhaoRuirui will line up with the team in the first match.
"Feng and Zhao recovered well from the surgeries. Feng is able to play 80 percent of her champion-winning level and Zhao at 90 percent. They will both be fielded in the match tomorrow. I hope the competition will give them more motivations," added Chen, who has been holding the helm of the team for seven years.
After leading the team to the Olympic title in Athens, the ever-smiling coach's team suffered some major injuries, resulting in a slump in form over the past few years.
"After the disappointing performance in 2006 and 2007, the team is determined to make a fresh start this year and get the defense of its Olympic crown back on track," said Zhao.
The 26-year-old Zhao, once a promising spiker, suffered too many setbacks in her fragile knees around the 2004 Athens Games and was forced out of action for almost four years.
The series's first three legs will first take place in Fuzhou, Jinjiang and Xiamen separately and after two days' break, the rivalry will be rekindled in Zhejiang's Jiande, followed by the last two matches in Shaoxing and Hangzhou.
Source: Xinhua
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