High expectations for Lang Ping as she takes head coach helm

Expectations are high for Lang to pull the Chinese team out of doldrums.

After bagging the bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese team failed to reach the Olympic semifinals in 2012. Head coach Yu Juemin resigned right after the Olympics.

"Lang has been an icon and she's incredible both as a player and coach," said Pan. "But she's not a savior. She's not capable of single-handedly lifting the team from the bottom to the top."

"It will be a very tough job to turn a new chapter for the Chinese team in a short period of time. But I will make sure steady progress of the team," said Lang.

Lang Ping trains players of Guangzhou Evergrande as the team prepares for the AVC Club Volleyball Championship in Guangzhou, April 26, 2013. [Photo/CFP]

After she retired as a player in late 1980s, Lang moved to the United States, where she lived for 15 years but maintains her Chinese citizenship. She studied and worked as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of New Mexico.

She took charge of the Chinese side in 1995 and guided them to the silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and to the second place at the 1998 World Championships in Japan.

Lang resigned from the Chinese team in 1998 citing health reasons and then spent six years coaching in Italy.

She took the helm of the US women's coach in late 2004 and led them to silver in Beijing Olympics in 2008.

After she returned to China in 2009, Lang was invited to coach the Evergrande club and she is credited with molding an unknown team to a dominant force in the Chinese league.

In 2002, Lang became an inductee of the Volleyball Hall of Fame in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

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