Chinese men's volleyball team to hire foreign coach

The Chinese men's volleyball national team will hire a head coach from abroad, a senior official revealed here on Friday.

"We are going to hire a foreign coach to take the helm of the men's national team in the next four years," said Li Quanqiang, vice president of China Volleyball Association.

"We hope to find a good coach who not only has successful coaching experience but also knows well about Chinese culture and Asian volleyball. Hopefully he can help our team to become an Asian powerhouse and an internationally competitive team and bring advanced methods of coaching and training to China," he added.

The Chinese men's volleyball team has missed two Olympic Games in a row after finishing fifth at the Beijing Games as the host in 2008 while the first foreign head coach in the team's history will be expected to lead the team to the qualification for the Tokyo Games in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Chinese women's team, which roared to back-to-back championships at the World Cup in 2015 and the Rio Games in 2016, has locked up legendary Jenny Lang Ping as head coach for the next four years.

"Regarding the women's side, the coaching team has done a great job in the past four years and we've got some talented young players. I think we will just keep working hard and hopefully we can do well again at the Tokyo Games," Li said. Endit