Chinese women's volleyball team will open its world championships against Azerbaijan Tuesday afternoon.

The girls managed to get a taste of the gym on Monday.

Head coach Chen Zhonghe said after the one-hour training that the girls are in high moral.

However, he stressed that the opening match is always difficult to deal with.

He added that Azerbaijan is among the top four teams in Europe and China didn't have an overwhelming power over the European rivals during their two encounters this year at the Grand Prix series.

The 2006 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship will smash off Tuesday with 24 teams competing for the prestigious title of World Champion.

Reigning champions Italy will be looking to defend the title they won in Germany in 2002 with new head coach Massimo Barbolini, who has only been in the job since 21st September this year.

The girls from Brazil, however, are the strong favourite, having followed their Grand Champions Cup victory in Japan this time last year with a fourth consecutive World Grand Prix title in Reggio Calabria in September. Although the Brazilian women's team have numerous international victories to their name, they are still looking for a World Championship trophy to complete the collection in their cabinet.

In addition to the defending champions and the favourites, FIVB President Dr Ruben Acosta listed Russia, China and Cuba among his picks for the podium. Russia's strong team took second place at this year's World Grand Prix under the guidance of Italian head coach Giovanni Caprara, who admitted he was "optimistic" for the World Championship after his team's performance in Italy.

China pipped Russia to the post in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, taking their second Olympic gold and head coach Chen Zhonghe has included six veteran players from the Athens Olympics and the previous World Championships in his squad, as well as four younger players who will be making their World Championship debut.

Cuba finished fifth at the 2002 World Championship and fourth in this year's World Grand Prix. With three gold medals under their belt, the Cuban women are a strong contender and benefit from the unrivalled experience of Eugenio George Lafitta, who has been coaching the Cuban women's team for 30 years and was named Coach of the Century in the FIVB's millennium survey in the year 2000.

(CRI October 31, 2006)