PASSING THE FLAME

Captain Zhu fired an ace that pierced through the Netherlands' defense, letting out a yell with her fist clenched. It was her fourth point in a row to put China 4-0 ahead in the fourth set, after the defending champions surrendered one set to the Dutch in Friday's match.

"I felt that we lost focus in the third set, so I hoped I could help lift up our team performance by scoring points myself so that we could be more concentrated in the rest of the game," the MVP of the last World Cup explained.

It was actually a rare thing to see at the World Cup this year. With fellow Rio 2016 veterans Zhang Changning and Yuan Xinyue sharing the attacking responsibilities, Zhu could forget about how she had to spike off the blocking that targeted her for the majority of the 2018 World Championship.

But when the team struggled, Zhu was always there, ready to unleash a super spike or tip a smart dink, doing whatever was needed to carry the team forward.

It vindicated her choice to play for Vakifbank in the Turkish league in 2016, when she left China in tears waving goodbye to family and friends, and came back after three seasons with multiple club honors, individual awards and a big heart.

Now she has become a national volleyball icon, just like "Iron Hammer" Lang did in the 1980s. As for Lang, she took over the flag from her former coach Yuan Weimin, who was behind China's rise in the beginning.

However, for Lang, life after retirement was far from easy.

Pursuing her studies in the US, Lang, for a period, had to play volleyball for a living.

"The eight years living overseas strengthened my mentality and made me completely leave behind all the world titles I had won. Without that experience living as a nobody, my life would never have taken another successful turn," Lang recalled in her biography.

In February 1995, Lang succeeded Yuan as China's head coach, and guided the team that had finished only eighth at the 1994 World Championship to a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

After leaving Team China for health reasons, she gained experience coaching clubs in Italian and Turkish leagues, before leading the USA to finish runners-up at Beijing 2008.

Returning to lead China in 2013 after the team disappointed at London 2012, at Rio 2016 Lang became the only person, male or female, to win an Olympic gold both as player and coach.

"The team in the 1980s not only had big success, but left legacies in terms of training methods and team-building," said Lai Yawen, part of China's Atlanta 1996 team who served as assistant coach for more than a decade. "After coach Yuan, they were carried on by coach Lang and Chen Zhonghe [who led China to gold in Athens], with new ideas and modern technologies added. This has been a firm support for the Chinese national teams throughout the years."

From coach Yuan to coach Lang, and spiker Lang to spiker Zhu, the flagbearers may have changed over time, but the craving for championships and the steely desire and determination remain the same.