Li Ying Ying (No. 12) could not shine at the world tournament - Photo: XHN
China is the tallest, Japan is the shortest.
According to information from the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), China is the tallest team in the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championship, while Japan is the shortest.
Specifically, the average height of the 14 Chinese girls participating in the tournament in Thailand is up to 189.9cm. That is truly a number that makes many people dizzy.
The average height of the Chinese team surpasses that of Poland (189.5cm), Brazil (188.5cm), and the United States (188cm) - powerful volleyball teams, also famous for their tall physiques.
On the contrary, Japan is the shortest team in the tournament with an average height of only 174.9cm, almost a head shorter than China.
The two Asian representatives created two contrasting faces at the World Championship. One was tall, imposing, pursuing a strong attacking style, with powerful smashes. And the other was small but skillful, flexible, tenacious in defense, using diverse tactics.
Japan and China created an interesting rivalry in the top volleyball world, pursuing different schools. And it was even more interesting when neither team could overwhelm the other.
The terrifying height of the Chinese women's volleyball team (red and white shirts) - Photo: FIVB
The last 10 matches between China and Japan (from 2021 to present) have ended in a 5-5 draw. Statistics show absolute balance.
In the World Championship arena, Japan is still better with 3 championships and 3 runner-ups, while China has 2 championships and 3 runner-ups.
However, Japan's peak years came in the 1960s and 1970s, when Western countries were not yet too enthusiastic about volleyball.
Since the rise of the US, Italy, Serbia, and Brazil, the Japanese have also begun to decline. Since the 1990s, the top volleyball world has easily pointed to a simple reason - height.
Most Western volleyball players are 180-190cm tall, and almost every team has one or two main players taller than 195cm. In contrast, the number of Japanese players taller than 180cm can be counted on one hand.
China is changing very quickly. Since the 1980s, Chinese volleyball has actively recruited female athletes from the North, who are not inferior to the Russians in height, and through that they have also risen to the top of the world.
By the 2010s, the generation of Zhu Ting and Yuan Xinyue helped China rise again, keeping them in the top competition for the last 10 years.
But in this year's tournament, both veteran Chinese stars were absent at the last minute due to injury (in addition to age).
Unfortunately, they are also the two tallest people on the team. Yuan is 203cm tall, while Zhu is 198cm tall.
China only knows how to look at height?
In a dire situation, coach Zhao Yong followed his instincts and called up young athletes... about as tall as Yuan-Zhu to join the national team.
They are Chen Houyu, a 19-year-old girl who is 197cm tall, and Wan Ziyue, also 19 years old and 196cm tall. Their lineup still ensures 7 players over 1m90 tall, meaning that except for the liberos, China always puts on the field "poles".
Chinese media sympathized with coach Zhao when he was forced into a passive position, without the team's best stars.
But experts also pointed out the problem of the Chinese team. That is, they do not have flexible plans in terms of tactics and personnel, and almost only choose replacements based on physical appearance.
"The Chinese team is tall, but immature and lacking in technique. I thought that when the two best and tallest players were absent, the coach would change the playing style a bit. But the result was that he only chose players who were equally tall, but completely inferior in skill," a critic commented on Sohu.
While China is trying to recruit and develop tall athletes, Japan is still loyal to its decades-old strategy of taking advantage of the ingenuity, agility and technique of Asians.
While other teams, including Vietnam, always have at least 1 or 2 strikers over 1m90 tall in their squad, Japan does not have any players taller than 1m85.
The Japanese volleyball team's girls are usually not taller than 1m80 - Photo: FIVB
There are many reasons why Japan has stuck to its strategy. First is the way they build the school sports environment.
Accordingly, Japanese girls are introduced to a tiered sports model early on, competing in continuous selections from the time they are middle school students. The best will always advance.
The Japanese are not tall, and they have no intention of "refining" their genes like the Chinese. There is no way that scouts will go to regions known for their tall people and convince parents to let their children play sports.
Next, the Japanese understood the disadvantage of their team's height, and always sought to develop tactical systems that took advantage of their small stature. That was a durable defensive style of play, and flexible in movement.
Japan (left) is loyal to a persistent defensive style of play, moving flexibly - Photo: FIVB
Of course, each method has its own unique features. For decades, Japan and China have been competing and confronting each other in a symbolic war.
The Chinese tried to strengthen themselves, while Japan cleverly turned their weaknesses into strengths. The efforts of the two sports made everyone admire them.
But at the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Cup, Japan are ahead. They have beaten defending champions Serbia (2-time champions) - a team with an average height of 186cm.
On the contrary, China was stunned by France - a Western team that was far behind in both ranking and physique (the average height of the French is only about 184.5cm) and could not reach the quarter-finals of the 2025 World Cup.
And so, "Dwarf Japan" is temporarily surpassing the tall, giant China in women's volleyball. Although it is a sport that values physical strength, it is clear that the tall, overwhelming team does not always win.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vi-sao-bong-chuyen-nu-trung-quoc-cao-1m90-lai-thua-nhat-ban-cao-1m75-20250901074115631.htm
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