Understanding Turkey before the Olympics, Director Lang went to the sidelines despite being sick: I want to be with the players

If we talk about the team that has played the most against the Chinese women's volleyball team during the Tokyo Olympics cycle, it is undoubtedly Turkey.

If we talk about the head coach who has the most stories and the deepest connection with the Chinese women's volleyball team in recent years, there is no doubt that it is the head coach of the Turkish team Gudeti.

Since 2017, the two teams from China and Turkey have played against each other more than 10 times in the Swiss Classic, VNL, World Championships, and Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. In 2019 before the epidemic, the two teams even competed in short-term matches. 6 confrontations in just 3 months. After the competition for Olympic qualifications was settled on August 4, 2019, Director Lang had just put away the Turkish team’s preparation materials piled high on the table. The groups for the Tokyo Olympics came out. Not only were the two teams in the same group, but also We want to meet in the first game of the Olympic Games! No wonder Director Lang laughed and said after seeing the results of the grouping: I am really destined to be "Director Fold"!

No one could have imagined at the time that after playing against each other 6 times in 3 months, the two teams from China and Turkey did not meet for 22 months. During this period, the Chinese women's volleyball team had no closed training, and the players returned to local teams to participate in the national championships. , league and National Games preliminaries.

The Turkish team hardly trained during the epidemic. The "director" and the players spent most of their time busy in the Turkish League, Cup and Champions League. Although the "Guide" alone was infected with the new crown twice during this period, and many players' teams also experienced collective infection incidents, the uninterrupted high-level competition has ensured the condition of the players.

More than a month ago, "Guide" just led the Vakifbank team to win the Turkish Super League championship again, and then won the runner-up in the Champions League. Many Turkish national players in the team have good performances. play.

In the last round of the second week of VNL in 2021, the Chinese women's volleyball team finally met the Turkish team.

This may be the only chance for the two teams to meet before the first game of the Tokyo Olympics. If it were placed in 2019 before the epidemic, for the purpose of spying on opponents, debugging lineups and playing psychological warfare, the significance of this game would be The Chinese women's volleyball team is extraordinary. But unfortunately, due to the long absence from the lineup, the Chinese women's volleyball team, which was not playing in the main lineup, had not found the feeling of the game until the fifth round. Not only did it not play its rhythm at all, but it also made some low-level mistakes. Twenty-four hours before meeting the Turkish team, the Chinese women's volleyball team had just lost to Canada in five hard-fought games, and the players were in a difficult period of mental recovery.

In contrast, the Turkish women's volleyball team sent out all the main players except for the assistant attacker Zehra. They remained unbeaten in the first five games and led the standings together with the American team. The morale of the Turkish women's volleyball team is at its peak.

Captain Aida said in an interview before the game: "We want to enter the VNL finals and strive to win medals. This will help us improve our level before the Tokyo Olympics and be 100% prepared for the Olympics. So far, we have done a good job.”

However, after experiencing many difficult moments with the Chinese women’s volleyball team, almost everyone does not think that facing the Turkish team in excellent form, it is not possible to play as the main force. The Chinese women's volleyball team will definitely lose.

Taking into account the mood of the team members and facing familiar opponents, Director Lang left all the time for the team members during the retreat before facing the Turkish team, hoping that they would fully communicate, mobilize themselves, and play well. This tough battle.

Did Director Lang cry? Did Director Lang not get enough rest, or was he sick?

Probably in the second half of the game, Director Lang's energy improved a little. During the timeout, she would ask individual players to give a few pointers. Later, she would carefully observe the situation on the court and take notes.

After the game, "I Love Women's Volleyball" contacted Director Lang as soon as possible and received a reply from Director Lang shortly after -

"I packed up before the game and got ready to go, because the previous One night I didn’t have a good rest and I felt unwell. The doctor suggested that I stay in the hotel and rest, but I felt that I still insisted on going to the game. Even sitting on the sidelines was a way of supporting the players.”

Girls all know Lang. Even though he was feeling unwell, he still insisted on attending the game, and he also hoped to give it a try and compete against Turkey.

However, the Turkish team was obviously superior in terms of strength and condition. They quickly controlled the situation on the court and won 3-0.

The most eye-catching thing about the Turkish women's volleyball team is the short pink-haired teenager Kara Kurt. She has become the Turkish team's number one offensive weapon. In the first five games of this VNL, she ranked third in the personal standings with 95 points.

Many Chinese fans were very emotional when they saw Karakult’s offense as if he was in a no-man’s land. Because Zhu Ting plays for the Vakif Bank team, everyone has watched Karakurt grow up all the way. .

At the end of April 2018, when the Turkish Super League final between Vakif Bank and Isachibashi was in dire straits, Gudeti wrote Karakult's name into the 14-man roster for the first time. At that time, Karacourt, who had just come up from the youth team, had a high spike point and strong strength, and he played passionately, but his turnover rate was also high and his linking skills were relatively poor.

From the club to the national team, from support to main attack, Gudeti provided Karacourt with various training opportunities in high-level competitions. In addition, he was surrounded by superstars such as Zhu Ting, and his "cousin" The progress is obvious, the offense is becoming more fierce, and the mistakes are gradually decreasing.

Last season, Karacourt, who moved to Turkish Airlines, helped the team reach the semi-finals of the Turkish Super League. She also won the favor of the Italian Novara team with her outstanding performance and will be playing next season. Conquer the Apennines.

In the third game, Karacourt continued to show his strength. Turkey took the lead 6-2 at the beginning, and then opened the score to 15-8 in Meriha’s serving round, and maintained its advantage all the way, winning 24-18. Gain 6 match points. After the Chinese team chased for 3 points in a row, Ackerman hit the ball lightly. Turkey won 25-21 and won 3-0.

In the first match after the epidemic, there was a clear gap between the Chinese women's volleyball team who played as a substitute and the Turkish women's volleyball team who played as the main force, both in terms of status and combat effectiveness.

It is certainly a very important reason why the Chinese women's volleyball team sent a non-main lineup to compete this time, but a horizontal comparison of the 2019 VNL Nanjing Finals shows that they are also non-main players and have lacked high-quality competition training for more than a year. There is indeed a big gap between his current state and that of the time. With less than two months before the Tokyo Olympics, this issue should attract the team's full attention.

"This is not all about the Turkish team. They still have their main players yet to come out. We haven't seen each other for such a long time, and I feel that their serving and blocking have improved." After sitting on the sidelines and carefully observing the opponent, Director Lang said this.