Feng Kun, captain of the Chinese side, was two when the 1980s dream team won its first World Cup in 1981. Encouraged by her father, a keen sports fan, she had dreamed of being a track and field athlete and began attending sports classes, where, at the age of seven, a volleyball coach spotted her potential. She began playing two hours of volleyball a day after school.
Feng decided the sport was her destiny and begged her parents to let her pursue it at the expense of a traditional academic education. She says she told her mother: 'This is my first real opportunity in life and I want to make the best of it.' Taken aback by her daughter's maturity, Feng's mother agreed to let her attend the elite Shishahai Sports School in Beijing; to this day Feng says she cannot explain why she blurted out her comment.
Three years later Feng joined the Beijing No. 1 volleyball team and in 1995 was selected for the national side. Her career hit a temporary dead end when she failed to make the Olympic team five years later. Her mood slumped with her fortunes. 'Some-times I got sick of volleyball and didn't want to train,' she told the China Consumer Journal. 'I would even change a round plate for a square one when dining out because I hated seeing anything round. Actually I just needed some time off.'
Feng's fortunes rose again when Chen Zhonghe became coach in 2001, since when she hasn't looked back. As captain, Feng has special tactical responsibilities. At 1.83m she isn't especially tall for a volleyball player, but she has a striking way of 'setting' the ball for an attacker to smash it over the net: she doesn't so much hit the ball as hold it for a second before launching it gently back at the player she has chosen. During the action her body follows her hands and, most of all, her eyes, which are fixed on the ball as if bound to it by invisible filaments. Feng was chosen best setter in the world at the 2003 World Cup in Osaka; many commentators think she challenges Zhao Ruirui for the title of best female Chinese player.
Off court, with her oval face framed by short hair and hooded, almond-shaped eyes, the laconic Feng exudes a certain calmness. 'I think we played so-so against Cuba,' she admitted in a recent interview. 'I think I should cooperate better with the other players. The line-up is still new to us.
'I do have to shoulder more responsibility in that I have to observe the other players' moods and I try to encourage them when they aren't playing well. Zhao Ruirui being injured has had an impact on our performances. But it's also normal for players to get injured. What we have to do now is face the facts and learn to play without her.'