Chinese volleyball player Zhao Ruirui has set her comeback date on January 1, 2008 after her long-term recuperation from injury, a national volleyball team official has revealed.

 

 

Zhao Ruirui is in a training session on July 24 in Beijing prior to the World Grand Prix. (File Photo: Sportsphoto.cn) 

 

The team's director, Li Quanqiang, says Zhao's return will be in time for China's final preparation for the Beijing Olympics, scheduled to open on August 8 next year, where the team looks forward to defend its title.

 

A correspondent of The Beijing News witnessed Zhao working hard in a training session on Wednesday in Beilun in eastern China's Zhejiang Province, with the bandage around her knee removed.

 

Li Quanqiang says Zhao's physical strength has been recovering smoothly and her training will get back on track.

 

Zhao, a key player in Chen Zhonghe's team, was injured in her leg prior to the 2004 Olympic Games.

 

Her injury got worse during the game against the US, which sidelined Zhao in the games in Athens where the Chinese women volleyball team re-claimed the Olympic title after a 20-year wait.

 

(CRI August 24, 2007)