Lang Ping won a gold medal for China as a player in 1984 and hopes to win now as a coach
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 18, 2016 – Lang Ping did not like the idea of crossing the bridge until coming to it, so now that she is in the finals after overcoming Netherlands the coach of China is ready to concentrate in facing the team of Serbia for the Olympic gold medal.
Also, the former gold medal winner as a player in Los Angeles 1984 hopes her team can play better against Serbia than in the preliminary phase when lost in straight sets.
Lang Ping, Coach of China: We prepared really well for this match and kept fighting until achieving our goal. Everybody could see that the match was very tough. We made some unforced errors, but also we were lucky to win the key points at the closing moments. The key for us was the blocking against a team with strong and tall spikers. It was a great performance also by Netherlands, a team with great potential.
On Zhu Ting who scored 33 points for China:
She played very well, and she is the core of our offence.
On next match against Serbia:
I had no time to think about Serbia before this match. First I had to win this match before preparing for Serbia. They defeated s 3-0 in the qualification round and I hope that my team can play better this time around. Serbia played very well defeating USA 3-2 at the World Cup last year and won again 3-2 here. I hope we have better game than in the pool play.
Compared to winning a gold medal as a player:
I won an Olympic gold medal 32 years ago as a player and it is impossible to compare the game of those years with the current game. There has been a revolution in the way volleyball is played nowadays. But I can tell you that at the end of the day it has the same meaning.
Giovanni Guidetti, Coach of Netherlands: The match was obviously very tough but a great volleyball match executed by both teams. China was the best team at the key moments, playing with more calm and making fewer mistakes at the end of the first and third sets. Now we will try to win the bronze medal playing against a team like USA that is better than China.
On the match against USA:
I think we will approach the game with a better attitude or feeling than USA because they came here as one of the top favourites to win the gold medal and for us winning a bronze medal is like winning the gold. But anyway, it will be a big challenge because they are a great team.