BEIJING, Dec. 11 -- China's women's volleyball team has high hopes of defending its gold medal at next year's Olympic Games, but a chief official from the sport's governing body downplayed China's chances, admitting that no podium finish would also be acceptable.

    "The worst result we are ready to accept is fifth place," said Xu Li, director of the Volleyball Administrative Center. "I am not kidding you. The chances of winning a gold, a silver, a bronze, or fourth or fifth place are all the same - it's 20 percent apiece."

    Xu and head coach Chen Zhonghe have been scouting potential players in the national volleyball league but are far from satisfied with the performances of some Olympic hopefuls.

    "We are short of spikers and setters," admitted coach Chen. "We are looking for such players to make the team up. But there are few coming up in the league.

    "Some of the players have good potential but are too young. They have no experience in big competitions and are not mentally strong. We do not have enough time to grow them up."

    Chen blamed the lack of qualified players on the inadequate development of the sport's grassroots levels.

    "The level of our national league is not reaching high standard. There are not enough people playing the sport in China.

    "In the US there are more than 100 pro teams. But in China we only have just over 100 pro players. It's a huge gap and makes the selection of good players difficult."

    Chen said emerging powerhouses like the US - which is coached by former Chinese star Lang Ping - the Netherlands and Italy have joined the traditional elites like Cuba, Brazil and Russia, making the battle for gold in Beijing all the more intense.

    "I came to Japan last month and watched the World Cup. It's so competitive. Italy and the US are showing impressive improvements in the tournament. The number of rivals to challenge China's defense is increasing."

    Struggling with injury and inconsistency with a new team after the 2004 Athens Games, the national team suffered a string of losses to lowly ranked teams in this year's Grand Prix preliminary rounds and stumbled into August's finals in a disappointing eighth place.

    The squad did launch a strong return to form as it clinched second place with four straight wins, including three-set sweeps against Russia and Brazil. But its loss to finals-winner Netherlands and its poor record against Italy and Brazil throughout the year sound a clear warning to China's Olympic prospects.

    (Source: China Daily)