Source: Xinhuanet

  Lang Ping returned to China for coaching eleven years later

Qu Beilin, Aug. 10, Beijing, Xinhuanet: Eleven years later, Lang Ping, the “Iron Hammer” returned to China again for coaching. Howver, this time she doesn’t take over the pearl on the crown – the National Team, but the currently unknown Guangdong Evergrande Women’s Volleyball Club. The team, which is the first and currently the only one pure club, will rank among the best in China by participating in league matches.

If we believe that the dream Lang Ping pursued before the age of 49 was to flourish in the world’s stage, representing the flowers of China’s volleyball, then what she wants to do is to make contributions to China's volleyball cause that is well established and vigorously developed.  Yuan Weimin, her former coach and chairman of China Volleyball Association, Zhang Rongfang, her former teammate and secrectary of the Party Committee of the Volleyball Administration Center, Xu Li, chairman of Volleyball Administration Center and other leaders all expressed welcome to her return and support for her decision.

On April 24, 2009, Evergrande Real Estate Group, a famous Chinese real estate company that is enthusiastic about sports, invested RMB200,000,000 to successfully registered Evergrande Volleyball Club. This is the first ture volleyball club in China’s history. It is completely funded by the company and subjected to corporate management.

Evergrande Group and Lang Ping hope that this volleyball team will improve itself and grow in league matches and represents a positive and useful effort of exploring how China’s volleyball cause can be established in the market and enjoy continuous prosperity.

On August 10, Lang Ping who is on holiday in Beijing told the journalist with Xinhuanet by phone that Xu Jiayin, President of the Board of Directors of Evergrande Group, has been supporting and participating in the cause of sports and as the fan of China’s volleyball when he was young. He is honest and has great courage, and really hopes that she will return. He employed Lang Ping in hopes that the world-class coach will build a first-class club team in China.

In Beijing Olympics in 2008, Lang Ping led the national women’s volleyball team of the United States to win the silver medal again 24 years later, tying the best record in the history of the team. After the match, Lang Ping refused another invitation from American Volleyball Association and chose to take up the post of head coach for Turkey Telecom Club where she could work under less pressure.

Lang Ping is the key player of Women's Volleyball Team of China winning the four straight championships. Winning the gold medal at the 1986 World Championship, National Women’s Volleyball Team of China gained five consecutive championships, and she was the member of the coach team whose honor reached the historical peak.

In 1995, she returned from the USA and was appointed chief coach of Chinese women’s volleyball team at a critical and difficult time. That year, she brought the team from Rank Eight in the world to Rank Three in the World Cup. The next year, she led the Chinese women’s volleyball team to win the silver medal at the Atlantic Olympics. After winning the second prize in World Women’s Championship held in Japan in 1998, Lang Ping resigned from her post for health reasons.

Lang Ping has the experiences of professional league matches in the USA, Italy and Turkey. The experiences may bring some new and fresh air to the professionalization of Chinese volleyball.