At the World U18 volleyball tournament in 2025, the Chinese young women's team played impressively with a series of victory matches. The great contribution to that success is a very special face – Zhang Zixuan, a two -year -old pass only 16 years old but has been praised by the Chinese media as the “creator queen”.
Zhang Zixuan, born in 2008, is currently the captain and passed two main of the U18 China team. Although very young, this girl has shown the ability to coordinate the match as a long -term professional athlete. According to statistics from the Organizing Committee, Zhang Zixuan is leading the whole tournament in the assisting index – the number of passes leads to the highest score up to the present time.
Not only good at passing the ball, Zhang Zixuan also shows comprehensive support when supporting defense, stable ball broadcast and keeping calm in high pressure balls. It was that that made her a center in every team's tactics and was considered the true “brain” of Chinese youth teams.
Coach Zhao Yong of the Chinese U18 volleyball team could not hide his pride when talking about his students: “We put our faith in the younger generation, and Zhang Zixuan proved that she deserved this opportunity. The calm, bravery and tactical thinking of her far beyond the age of 16.”
In response, Zhang humbly shared: “I was nervous in the first match, but the encouragement of my teammates and the audience helped me to be more confident. I just wanted to focus on doing a good role to not betray people.”
Chinese sports media called her “Zang genius”, not only because of superior techniques but also because of the very clear leader. In tense matches, Zang always retains the focus and continues to direct teammates with a great sense of responsibility. This is more surprising because she is only 16 years old, a age where most athletes are still familiar with the international competition environment.
The boom of Zhang Zixuan is considered a positive signal for Chinese women's volleyball, after many years of searching for the next generation worthy for stars like Zhu Ting or Ding Xia. Experts believe that, if well -trained and developed in the right direction, Zang can completely become two numbers of the number one of the national team in the near future.
The dream of ruling Asia – even reaching the world – of Chinese volleyball is now being lit with names like Zhang Zixuan. With impressive performance at the U18 World, this small but internal girl is expected to be a key factor to bring Chinese women's volleyball back to the peak in a new cycle.