FULL FOCUS: China's Zhao Ruirui gets in some practice at the Hong Kong Coliseum ahead of this week's US$400,000 World Women's Grand Prix finals to be held at the same venue. Coach Chen Zhonghe knows his young team have to lay to rest their title jinx when play starts tomorrow as the 1.94-metre Zhao and her teammates need a confidence-booster for the World Championship in Germany in September.
A dominant force in the 1980s when they were crowned Olympic champions at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and won the world title in 1982 and 1986, the Chinese women's squad have failed to conquer the world in any major tournaments since - including the World Grand Prix finals inaugurated in 1993. But Chen senses it is the right time for them to win their first Grand Prix finals title, having arrived buoyed by victory in the Macau leg last weekend.
'We have what it takes to win but Russia will be hard to beat. It's nice if we win here but our main target this year is the World Championship,' Chen said ahead of their opening clash against Brazil tomorrow.
Olympic silver medallists Russia, under long-serving coach Nikolai Karpol, appear the team to beat in this four-day event, which also features Germany, as Russia are the only team who have beaten China in nine matches over three legs in the past three weeks.
'Russia haven't changed their squad much after the Sydney Olympics, while we are in a rebuilding phase, having changed most of our players since,' said Chen.
