Photo: Xinhua

China's men's national volleyball team were relegated from the FIVB volleyball Nations League after a disappointing run in the league's preliminary phase, raising questions about the future of the men's national team.

Following Sunday's 3-1 defeat by Canada in the final match of the preliminary phase, China finished the annual international tournament at the bottom of 16 teams with a 2-10 win-loss record. 

The relegation sends China into the FIVB Challenger Cup to be held in Qatar from July 27 to 30. They will be able to return to next season's Nations League only if they win the Challenger Cup, which is a big question mark for the team.

A bigger question mark lies ahead when China turns its focus to the Hangzhou Asian Games in September and then participating in the Paris Olympic Games qualifiers in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, from September 30 to October 8. 

Only the top 24 teams in the world rankings will be eligible for the Olympic qualifiers and China is out of the loop, ranking world No.25 currently.

The relegation sounds the alarm for China's volleyball team to reflect on its missteps and focus on the basics.

Wu Sheng, head coach of the national team, said in June that it would be difficult to emerge from the Olympic qualifiers. If they fail in the qualifiers, the team will have to fight for an Olympic berth through better world rankings. But volleyball fans are of the mind that only miracle could help China qualify for the Paris Olympic Games.

Fans also vented their anger toward the coach for the team's error-strewn performance in the Nations League, blasting him for substitutions, ill-timed challenge calls and his inability to adjust to instantaneous changes on the court.

Wu takes full responsibility for the team's performance but that does not paper over the widening gap between China and world heavyweights that has been laid bare in the league as the team was blown out in serving, reception, blocking, offense and setting. 

Wu said after the relegation that the worst problem lies in setting. 

"I'm not happy with all three setters. We don't have a consistent starting lineup," he said.

When we look up to the other end of the Nations League table, Japan sits second with a 10-2 win-loss record. 

Statistics indicate that it all boils down to basics. It has been Japan's solid reception and defense that enabled it to prevail against physically stronger opponents. Miracles came from years of hard work in honing the team's basic skills.