Popular Chinese women's volleyball head coach Chen Zhonghe will not be leading the national team to the 2012 London Olympics after the sport's governing body announced yesterday that he is to be replaced by 42-year-old Cai Bin.

The older Chen is credited with single-handedly engineering the rise of the team to rank alongside the world's elite since taking over the helm in 2001, a success story that makes his sudden departure even more of a surprise. Prior to their gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the team had experienced a major world title drought for almost two decades since enjoying their heyday in the 1980s.

Chen rescued the team from their slump by rediscovering the kind of form that saw them win their first World Championship in 1981 before going on to rule the sport for the next five years.

Chen, now 52, said he had no regrets and did not think the decision to replace him was affected by China's bronze-medal finish at last summer's Beijing Games.

"I do not feel sorry for what I have achieved in my coaching career," said Chen. "I'm not depressed about the decision. It's normal for a younger coach to take over because the team need that kind of fresh energy and ambition."

Many fans were disappointed at hearing the news. Public polls on leading portals Sina.com and Sohu.com showed that 55 percent of respondents were shocked at Chen being axed, while 47 percent doubted Cai could do a better job.

Cai, who formerly led the women's youth team, knows he has a lot to live up to.

"Rather than feeling happy or surprised, I feel a great sense of responsibility and I see this as a challenge," he said. "Our youth team has already achieved much glory and it's my job to make sure we keep this tradition going in the senior team with win after win."

(China Daily March 24, 2009)