Lang Ping, head coach of China women's volleyball team talks to players courtside during their Sunday game against Turkey. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

 Lang Ping, head coach of the Chinese women's volleyball team, shed tears during an interview after her team beat Italy on Saturday. The coach thanked Chinese fans for their continued support and apologized for the team's performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Lang's response became a hot topic on Chinese social media platforms, earning more than 300 million views on Sina Weibo as of Sunday.

When talking with media after the Saturday match, Lang admitted that the team had not been playing well at the Olympics and that she was most regretful about the match against Russia as in her opinion the Chinese team did not fully take advantage of the opportunities in that match.

Lang said that she does not think the Chinese women's volleyball team will reach a low point. The Olympic Games are more focused on improvisation and the team has undergone meticulous training during the Tokyo Olympic cycle and many players have made progress, which cannot be denied because of one or two failures, according to a report from China Sports Daily.

Lang also hinted at retirement during the interview. 

"I love the career [volleyball] and feel that I should be responsible for it. But I am so tired that it is time to have a rest. We have many younger new coaches who can lead a new Chinese women's volleyball team forward," the head coach said.

Most Chinese netizens comforted the head coach on Sina Weibo and commented that Lang and the team have contributed much to the Chinese sports, so there is no reason to be too hard on the team members.

"You carry the expectations of every Chinese and also bear pressure we cannot imagine. As long as you try, you are the best! We will encourage you to move forward with applause," a netizen with the username Gnome wrote on Sina Weibo.

The Chinese women's volleyball team won its second final match against Italy 3-0, after having sadly lost games to the US, Russia and Turkey.

The team's last game in Tokyo will be against Argentina on Monday. While there is no hope that the team will make it into the upcoming quarterfinals, Chinese netizens encouraged the players to try their best to win the final game and show China's women volley's spirit.