2017 FIVB VOLLEYBALL WORLD GRAND PRIX
- Group 1
- July 7th – August 6th
- FIVB World Grand Prix Round 3
- Schedule/Results
Who is sought out to be one of the best players in the world, Zhu Ting doesn’t think that she is anything special. Is she being too modest, though?
Ting has an impressive resume over the past year, stemming from China‘s first-place finish at the 2016 Olympic Games. There, Ting led the Chinese squad to the victory as well as in scoring with 179 points on 158 kills, 15 blocks and six aces. With this, Ting was named the MVP of the Olympic Games. In addition, Ting played with VakifBank Istanbul in the 2016-17 season, helping the team to the Club World title, also garnishing the MVP honors at that competition as well.
The young volleyball prodigy is only 22 years old with years left in her volleyball career. Chinese National Team coach Lang Ping brought up Ting four years ago to the team, but she was not strong enough at the time, needing the experience of other national team members and time to develop into the star she is today.
During the first week of the World Grand Prix, Ting sat out due to her strenuous 2017 season, being fatigued. Since then, Ting has been a dominant role player for the Chinese having put down 103 points in the preliminary round and in just two weeks. China enters the Final Six of the World Grand Prix only as the host of the competition, as they missed a true qualification by one match.
The FIVB asked Ting if she felt like a star back in China after winning the Olympics and being named MVP, to which she answered, “I don’t think I’m a star. I think the people like volleyball better.”
No matter how modest or humble she is, the numbers don’t lie. Ting produces outrageous numbers for her youthfulness to the sport.
China will begin their World Grand Prix finals run with Brazil on August 2, followed by the Netherlands on August 4. From there, the top four teams will advance to the semifinals.
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