Guangdong Evergrande Women s Volleyball Team Won the First Game at 3:1 against Shanghai Team, the Runner-up of the Last Session

After the grand meeting of the wonderful Asian Games, the Flower City Guangzhou welcomed again the grand opening ceremony of China Women s Volleyball League A. On Dec. 18, 2010, the Opening Ceremony & Curtain-raiser of China Women s Volleyball League A was ceremoniously held. Accompanied by Professor Hui Ka Yan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Evergrande Group, and Li Gang, Vice Chairman of Evergrande Group, leaders such as Cai Zhenhua, Deputy Director General of the General Administration of Sport of China, Xu Li, Director of Volleyball Management Center, Li Quanqiang, Deputy Director of Volleyball Management Center, Wang Yuping, Deputy Director General of Guangdong Sports Bureau, Liu Jiangnan, Director General of Guangzhou Sports Bureau, and Yu Juemin, Chief Coach of National Women s Volleyball Team, were present at the site for watching the game.

The opening ceremony and curtain raiser was held in Run Run Shaw Gymnasium of Jinan University, the home field of Guangdong Evergrande Women s Volleyball Team, where Guangdong Evergrande Women s Volleyball Team played against Shanghai Team. In the opening ceremony, on behalf of the Group, Li Gang, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, made an ardent speech.

As an upgraded team in the League A, Guangdong Evergrande Women s Volleyball Team, was considered by the outside as one of the teams with the greatest potential to win the championship in the League A this year, although it had never participated in it before , because it was upgraded with the proud achievement of 12 consecutive victories in the battle of League B in the last competition season thanks to the joining of Lang Ping, the chief coach, and many foreign and domestic top volleyball stars.

With powerful strength, the rival Shanghai Team had made the glory achievement of winning the championship for five consecutive years from 1997 to 2001 and has always been the potential contender for the championship of League A in recent years.

After the fierce competition of the two teams for two hours, Guangdong Evergrande Women s Volleyball Team finally won the curtain raiser of League A at 3:1 (25:16, 23:25, 33:31, and 25:15). The eye-catching performance such as the powerful jump servings, smashes, and blocks of two foreign players of Lang s Team, namely, Tom Logan and Jovana Brakocevic, deeply impressed the volleyball fans.

After the game, the rival Shanghai Team also expressed the appreciation for the two foreign players of Guangdong Evergrande Team. Yu Juemin, the former chief coach of Chinese Women Volleyball Team, even said that Guangdong Evergrande Women s Volleyball Team had the level of top 3 in the League.

Established in April 2009, Guangdong Evergrande Women s Volleyball Team is the first really professionalized volleyball club in the country, which is innovative in the professionalization of the volleyball circle of China. It is managed and operated completely in the enterprise mode. The new mode of assuming sole responsibility for its own profits and losses, independent survival, and self development was beneficial for the construction of professionalization of Chinese volleyball.