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Chinese women's team aim for comeback

The Chinese women's volleyball team are looking to make a comeback in the 2004 Pacific Century Insurance FIVB World Grand Prix at the Hong Kong Coliseum tomorrow.

It will be the second week of the US$1 million event. Defending champions China settled for second behind Brazil in the first week, held in Miao Li, Taiwan.

The top five of the 12-team pool will advance to the finals in the Italian city of Calabria at the end of the month. As the hosts, Italy automatically have a berth in the finals.

The mainland Chinese side have always had a strong fan base in Hong Kong. They can expect full support from the home crowd at the Coliseum.

Without the injured star Zhao Ruirui, the focus is now on talented setter Zhang Ping. The 22-year-old has been playing with the first team since May.

Zhang - whose performance has been highly praised - has been tipped to take Zhao's place in the national team shortly.

'Ruirui has played with the team for a couple of years but I have only played a couple of months,' said Tianjin-born Zhang.

'But I have confidence in myself that I am as competitive as she is,' she said. While Zhang is excited to have earned a spot on the Olympic squad, she hopes Zhao will recover soon to strengthen the team.

'We need a strong squad in Athens and our target is to get the best result. It doesn't matter if I play or not.'

Match Schedule: Friday - Italy vs USA, 6pm; China vs Thailand, 8.30pm. Saturday - Italy vs China, 1pm; China vs USA, 3.30pm. Sunday - USA vs Thailand, 1pm; China vs Italy, 3.30pm. Tickets at $20, $50, $100, $200 and $400 are available at all Urbtix outlets. Tel: 2734 9009.

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