China’s volleyball star Gong Xiangyu shines despite losing against Turkey in Nations League
Team head to Hong Kong next for third week of games, where they will face Canada, Ukraine, the Dominican Republic and Italy
The performance of Gong Xiangyu was widely praised despite China ending the second week of the 2026 Volleyball Women’s Nations League with a hard-fought, five-set loss to hosts Turkey.
In the match against Turkey, Gong scored a team-high 22 points, matching Turkish superstar Melissa Vargas point-for-point across the net. Gong and Tang Xin rotated to spearhead the attack.
Netizens praised Gong for “delivering the most dominant and sharpest offence since taking over as captain for the new Olympic cycle”.
Gong really found her rhythm in the second set, bypassing the Turkish block and saving multiple set points. Tied at 24-24, a successful challenge by China secured a critical point before Gong completed the comeback, claiming the set 28-26.
In the third set, Gong dominated with two aces and down-the-line attacks at crucial moments while turning her reliable passing into breakthroughs.
“It was great to see veteran Gong Xiangyu perform well on the offensive end, playing maturely and with experience, doing an excellent job stabilising team morale,” ex-national player Zhao Ruirui said after the match.