News

Ningbo, Southeast China, May 23, 2005 - The Shenzhou Cup China International Women's Volleyball Tournament will start at China's second largest port Beilun on Tuesday. Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Japan, Poland and the hosts China are to participate in the five-day tournament.

World number one China, the Olympic and World Cup champions, will make their first appearance on the international scene following their triumph at the Athens Olympic Games after recruiting several young players.
Pic: China will have some changes in their line-up since the Olympics
"It's our first competition after the Olympics, there will be a couple of new faces in our starting line-up," said Chinese head coach Chen Zhonghe. "We will try our best to play to our standard, but it's also important to give young players more opportunities to play at the international level."

China and Cuba, who lost to the Chinese women 3-2 in a thrilling semi-final at the Athens Olympics, will play in different preliminary groups with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the semi-finals.

China will play the Netherlands in Group A on Tuesday while Cuba takes on Group B opponent the Dominican Republic.

Beilun, in southeast China's Zhejiang province and two hours drive from China's largest port city Shanghai, will be a regular host of the Chinese women's national team international fixtures in the next four years.