Chinese men's volleyball players disappoint again - Photo: AVC
Compared to the women's volleyball team, the Chinese men's volleyball team is not as highly regarded. Nevertheless, China is still considered to be in the top 4-5 in Asia currently.
In the last two Asian Championships, China reached the semi-finals in both tournaments, while South Korea were eliminated early.
Therefore, in this year's tournament, China is expected to surpass South Korea to replicate their achievements from the previous two tournaments. This is considered the minimum requirement set by the Chinese Volleyball Federation for their male athletes.
But then they disappointed once again. Making too many mistakes, China ultimately lost 1-3 (25-17, 21-25, 22-25, 27-29).
This defeat caused China to drop to 34th place in the world rankings. And this is not the first time China has disappointed at a prestigious volleyball tournament.
In this year's VNL tournament, China finished last in the qualifying round, but still secured a spot in the finals (i.e., the quarterfinals) thanks to hosting that stage. However, they lost their first match against Japan with a score of 1-3.
That was men's volleyball, but for women's volleyball, the Chinese girls were extremely disappointing when they were defeated by Thailand in the final of the 2026 Asian Championship right on home soil.
This is an incredibly unbelievable defeat because the Chinese women's team has always been in the top 8 in the world, while Thailand is far inferior in terms of strength.
It's safe to say this has been a bad year for Chinese volleyball, as they have declined in both men's and women's competitions.