Crunch time: Lang Ping’s China to take on the United States for supremacy in Hong Kong leg of World Grand Prix
Legendary Chinese coach looking for psychological boost against the team she coached to silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in Sunday’s grand finale
It’s crunch time for China as coach Lang Ping will find out what her charges are made of as she faces her old team, the United States, in the grand finale of Sunday’s Hong Kong leg of the FIVB World Grand Prix.
Having blasted past Germany 3-0 on Saturday in their penultimate game of the four-team, round-robin tournament at the Coliseum, the legendary coach, once dubbed the “Hammer” as a player, will try to win the psychological edge ahead of China’s pool game against the United States at the Rio Olympics in six weeks’ time.
Lang coached the United States to a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but has since switched allegiance back to the Chinese camp as she attempts to become the first to win Olympic gold as both a player (Los Angeles Olympics 1984) and a coach.
Lang’s charges defeated the Americans in the Ningbo leg of the World Grand Prix series two weeks ago, and she will be hoping for a repeat of that performance as the two unbeaten teams clash in the Hong Kong leg for supremacy.
The Chinese team sent a different starting line-up to tackle the Germans but they still proved too good. The former Olympic and world champions had a few hiccups along the way but still posted a comprehensive 25-13, 25-16, 25-22 victory completed in one hour and 13 minutes.